I’ll battle to help my Army friend
WILLIE AND ROBERT’S STORY
WILLIE Banks, 71, and Robert Wilkie, 67, met 50 years ago when they joined the Black Watch regiment.
Robert was diagnosed with dementia four years ago but the “family” bond they formed in the Army as members of the signals platoon has not been broken by the disease.
The pair, from the same area of Fife, have a shared history built in stints in Germany, tours of Northern Ireland and sneaking out to share pints in bars.
They had each other’s backs then and Willie is determined that tradition will continue when Robert needs him most.
Willie said: “We always had a good laugh together and we still do. The camaraderie was brilliant.”
Robert lives in Renton, Dunbartonshire, and Willie in Buckhaven, Fife, and they had lost touch until about six years ago.
They haven’t been able to meet often but they keep in touch through Facebook, emails and phone calls.
Willie found out about Robert’s dementia shortly after he was diagnosed and he sends him photographs from Black Watch reunions.
He even put Robert on the phone to friends who were at a reunion he couldn’t make.
Robert said: ”The friendships mean everything to me. The friends I made in the Army are like family.
“They were the ones you could turn to when you were away on a tour and you could go to the bar together at night and iron out all your troubles together.”
Willie said: ”The tours cemented our friendship and the dementia won’t