Piper played on after being shot three times
New book tells amazing story of Black Watch hero
life The book brings the story of Pipe Major Robert Roy MBE DCM to
ready to rejoin his comrades.
“My father discovered they’d got another pipe major, but he soon took his role back,” explained Alice.
Despite having the choice to go back to England as he’d been abroad for six years, he volunteered to join the European campaign.
It was while fighting through Europe he met his future wife Hilda - a German.
Alice said: “You can imagine it was very frowned on.
“They cooked up stories to discredit him, but the love between him and my mother prevailed despite the disapproval of senior officers.”
Robert had to wait two years to bring Hilda back to the UK and they married in Perth where he was posted after the end of the war.
Alice was christened in Perth, despite the family having moved to Kirkcubright by the time of her birth in 1949.
Robert died in August 1960 when Alice was just 11 from a brain haemorrhage.
It happened while he was staying at Edinburgh Castle, where he was practicing for a performance as the lone piper at the Edinburgh Military Tattoo.
Following this shocking loss, Alice and her nine-year-old sister and 18-monthold brother were brought up by their mother on her own.
Alice grew up to be a teacher and later an OFSTED inspector and local councillor in Kirkcudbright.
It was when she was clearing the house shortly after her mother died, six years ago, that Alice discovered a suitcase containing a gold mine of information - her father’s war documents and notes of his time as the Black Watch regimental pipe major were all perfectly preserved.
She also found certain significant objects from her father’s time at war with the Black Watch regiment, with which he was their pipe major.
She gave these items to the Black Watch Museum in Perth and became interested in researching her family history.
As her research progressed, Alice got in contact with Perth-based book publisher, Tippermuir.
“I’m really excited that what began as a bit of research for my family has now been published,” said Alice.
“The finished book describes many of his adventures, like escaping from a prison camp - it’s not just about fighting.”
Alice, who went to school in Dundee, is in her 70s and still “feels a great affinity Pipe Major Robert Roy to Perthshire.”
June 1956 saw Robert Roy awarded an MBE in the Queen’s birthday honours list.
In the book, Alice has included a photograph of herself pictured with her mum and sister Margaret in Trafalgar Square, en route to see him collect his medal from the Queen.
The foreward of the book was written by Lieutenant General Sir Alistair Irwin KCB, who said: “The Piper of Tobruk is an inspiring story of a distinguished and gallant soldier whose exploits in war and peace are genuinely remarkable.
“This is a book not just for military men (for whom it should be compulsory reading) but for anyone who is interested in the power of the human spirit over adversity and danger.”
The book costs £8.99 from all good booksellers and can be ordered in at the library.