‘Breathtaking’ portraits of Scottish VE Day veterans unveiled ahead of anniversary

● Pictures paired with shots of veterans in their heyday ● Subjects include oldest living Desert Rat aged 107

0 Photographs commemorating Scottish veterans of the Second World War have been unveiled ahead of VE Day. Left, Ailsa Stewart, 104, served in the Women’s Royal Naval Service. John Mcowan from Peebles who was born in 1922 was a Sergeant in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. Marjorie Corbett Lamb, 99, served in the Women’s Royal Naval Service. The pictures of 15 veterans taken by award-winning photographer Wattie Cheung have been described as ‘breathtaking’.

A series of striking portraits commemorating some of Scotland’s veterans of the Second World War have been unveiled ahead of VE Day.

The pictures of 15 veterans, taken by an award-winning photographer over the past two years, have been described as “breathtaking”.

The portraits, coupled with photographs of the veterans during their wartime service, capture their stories of this year’s commemorations of the end of the conflict.

They include Jimmy Sinclair from Kirkcaldy, who is the oldest living Desert Rat, having fought against Rommel in the north African desert.

Mr Sinclair, now 107, served as a gunner with the elite Chestnut Troop, 1st Regiment Horse Artillery, of the 7th Armoured Division.

Reflecting on his wartime experiences, he said: “It’s a pity it all happened. We didn’t treat the Germans as enemies; they were combatants in battle. Most of them didn’t want to be there either.”

Other veterans captured by photographer Wattie Cheung include Sergeant William Fraser Glen, now 98. Mr Fraser, from Carntyne, fought and was wounded after landing in Normandy two days after D-day.

He said: “I landed in Normandy two days after D-day. But I was wounded and was stretchered home. My most vivid memory was when I was wounded. A mortar bomb landed behind us and damaged my feet.

“One of my pals was killed. My boots were ripped right open and I had to crawl away. It was a traumatic experience. I will never, ever forget it.”

Plans had been in place for Mr Cheung’s photographs to form a key part of this week’s formal VE Day 75th anniversary events in Edinburgh.

In a nod to the wartime era, all the veterans were photographed on a Graflex Super D large format film camera made in the US in the 1940s.

Now, following the postponement of the events due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the portraits and stories are being shared online as part of the revised programme of virtual VE Day activities.

Mr Cheung, 52, described it as a “pleasure and honour” to photograph the veterans, describing them as a “link to the past” and a “special breed of people.”

He said: “I have noticed in the past few years that there have been fewer veterans coming back to the ceremonies and always had in the back of mind that I should do something for a project.

“So when I got hold of the vintage Graflex camera with a view to do a project of portraits it seemed a perfect match to use a camera built in the 1940s to photograph the Second World War veterans.”