Success in Dollar Academy scholarship examinations

Two pupils from Bannockburn Public School were successful in the recent Dollar Academy scholarships examinations, open to pupils in the counties of Stirlingshire, Clackmannanshire and Perthshire.

Nine places were offered and 44 pupils sat the exam. The successful Bannockburn pupils were Fredrick Bell, placed first in the order of merit, and Nancy Pollock, fifth.

The Observer of July 1939, also reported that the Pan American Airways flying boat Yankee Clipper had the previous Sunday arrived at Port of Washington, Long Island, from Southampton, having completed the trans-Atlantic airmail service’s first round trip.

On its arrival on this side of the‘pond’, it brought with it a letter from former St Ninians resident Mrs J Dick, then living in Port Washington, renewing her Observer subscription.

Under its `Notelets’ column, the Observer told the story of a militia man who was heading back to Stirling for a holiday he had taken before joining up.

He boarded a train and was full of `joie de vivre (both kinds)’ when he walked into a railway compartment and told his travel companions he was about to become a `sodger’.

He said he had to report to Stirling Castle and discussed the `possible merits and demerits (mostly the latter)’ of the sergeant-major there. He conversed at some length with the older men in the compartment and it became clear that they had knowledge of the Army.

In fact the `quiet fellow’ sitting in the corner of the carriage was the sergeant-major at Stirling Castle.

The militiamen arrived at the castle as scheduled and discovered that the sergeant-major was not as bad as he had been painted, for all he asked the `new boy’ was if he had got home alright.