Roll of Honour

Ronnie Drummond

Ronnie Drummond died on 1 March 2022 in what was his ninetieth year. Prior to the formation of the AEA in Scotland he had, along with some of his peers, joined the PRA Lothian as he was keen to maintain his airborne links. So it was entirely appro- priate that his coffin was escorted into his funeral service by three men from each of these organisations. The coffin was draped in the flag of 300 Para Sqn of 131 Parachute Engineer Regiment RE(TA) with his Korea Medal resting on top. He was one of 6 children born to his mum and was brought up in Edinburgh’s South- side. His dad died when Ronnie was only four but his mum remarried and he became very close to his step-dad. Ronnie himself married Myra in his mid twenties and the pair of them went on to enjoy 62 years together. Much of that enjoyment came from their son and daughter, grandchildren and great grandchildren. In common with his contemporaries Ronnie was conscripted to do his National Ser- vice but this was deferred to allow him to complete his apprenticeship as a plumber. A year of his Service was spent in Korea at the tail end of hostilities where the main task was water supply to the population of the war ravaged country. I understood this to have been under the aegis of 9 Sqn but members here advise there was no 9 involvement in Korea. Perhaps the confusion is down to Ronnie having joined 2 Troop of the then 300 Para Sqn of 131 Parachute Engineer Regiment RE(TA) prior to him being called up.

On return to Edinburgh Ronnie resumed his trade as a plumber where his specialism was lead work. This involved him working on many of the city’s landmarks, including Holyrood Palace, the Bank of Scotland HQ on the mound and the Eastern General Hospital. It is somewhat ironic that the last of these is now known as Findlay House and Ronnie spent his last days there.
Also on return to Edinburgh he rejoined 2 Troop where he served for many years and resumed and made friendships that lasted a lifetime. A good many of his comrades had also been called up, some but not all serving in 9 Sqn, and rejoined 2 Tp on com- pletion of their service.
Later on in life Ronnie and Myra bought a timeshare in Malta and enjoyed holidays there for twenty plus years. On arrival they would seek out a pub to act as a local.

Ronnie was not a loud or gregarious man but it was a sign of his personality that they had numerous Maltese visitors to their home.
Ronnie was not one of the nine who attended the inaugural meeting of what is now AEA Scotland but one of six who had indicated a desire to join but were unable to attend. He became a stalwart member of the Branch and although, or perhaps because, he did not say much when he did offer a view others listened. It was therefore not unexpected when he was elected unopposed as Branch Chairman, a position he held for two years. His service to the Branch was later recognised by the award of the Pres- ident’s Commendation in 2017. He and Myra were big supporters of our social activi- ties and I recollect bumping into them at the first (I think) Coventry National AGM.
The photo of Ronnie was taken on 24 June 2017 at Armed Forces Day, Edinburgh, wearing his Korea Medal, of which he was a regular attender. The Korean Veterans’ Association was another organisation to which Ronnie gave freely of his time and in January 2019 he was awarded a Scroll for his service.

Ronnie’s hobbies in later life included gardening and cooking and he still took in the odd game of rugby. His son had played at a high level and obviously Ronnie followed the game more at that time and although the son left for France he was still to be found watching the club on the occasional Saturday. But the Airborne Sapper never left him – how else can you explain someone nearly eighty abseiling off the Forth Bridge

Goodbye old friend – we shall miss you.

Mick Walker.