Black Watch Museum celebrates very special wartime connection to Sicily

SCONE: Family of café owner opened home to Scots troops on island in 1943

A Perth museum dedicated to The Black Watch battalion has paid tribute to a big-hearted Italian family who opened their doors to Scottish soldiers during the Second World War.

Troops landed in Sicily in the summer of 1943 as part of an Allied invasion.

During their brief time on the island, they took shelter at the foot of Mount Etna, near a small town called Trecastagni.

There, they met a young Eleanora Raimondi and her mother, who offered them some much-needed respite, music and good Italian food.

Yesterday, the Italian connection was celebrated by staff from the Fair City’s Black Watch Museum.

They met with Eleanora’s daughter,

Laura, at her Italian café, La Sicilyana, in Scone.

She said: “My mother used to tell us kids stories about the war, and she spoke fondly about an episode where she encountered these soldiers from Scotland.

“She remembered that when she was 10, she was playing the piano at home and all of a sudden there was a face at her window. My grandmother told her they were Scottish soldiers.”

Laura said the men were invited into the house.

“Our family wanted to show them hospitality from the heart, knowing that these brave men were out there on their own,” she said.

“They became regular visitors. “My mum remembers when they left, one of the soldiers gave her this beautiful handkerchief he had embroidered.”

Laura added: “It seems like fate that I now have this café in Scone, providing food, coffee and hospitality to the people of Scotland, just like my mother did.”

Anne Kinnes, chief executive of the museum, said: “What Laura’s family did for these soldiers was incredible.”

Picture: Dougie Nicolson. From left: Steven Dalton (Laura’s husband), Black Watch Museum CEO Anne Kinnes, Laura Raimondi and museum curator Stuart Kennedy at La Sicilyana café.