Soldier Boy

“Soldier boy” was an affectionate nickname given to me by my father before he passed away. It was both said with pride and his way of calling me a dunderhead.

Dad was an intelligent, cerebral, well-read man, anti-war and pro-independence. He tried to convince me in a variety of ways not to “sign your life away”, including leaving a collection of DVDs for me like “Beneath Hill 60”, “Cross Of Iron” and “My Boy Jack”, as well as many war poems. He also highlighted my distaste for authority. But he failed to stop me. I signed up.

Scottish independence was a different story.

I’m a soldier in the “Ubique” Royal Engineers – “first in, last out” as our esprit de corp goes. There’s a big push for people to register and vote in the Scottish referendum on the British Forces Broadcasting Services (BFBS), repeated more than hourly because encouraging people to vote is good. Let’s be honest, though – the real reason is because the forces are seen as a bastion of No. But don’t be taken in.

Signing up was easy and it wasn’t. On the application paperwork there was a tricky question. I put the form to one side and gave it some serious thought.

I was then advised that I was British and should fill the form in accordingly, to avoid any awkward questions on nationalism or holding “extreme views”.

But I’m used to identity conflicts. My two Glaswegian grandparents made an interesting contribution. My grandma was a Catholic and a Celtic fan, and my Granddad – an armed forces veteran himself – was a Protestant and a Rangers fan, so you can picture their house on Old Firm day: my granny supping her Bells-and-coke cheering the green mob, and my granddad drinking Special Brew next to her shouting on the blues. (Comically, dodgy tickers in old age meant that games were watched only after finding out the result.)

It was at Granddad's funeral we discovered that he secretly supported both Rangers and Celtic. This was a seismic shock to my own identity as well as for others in my family. As a toast to the life-long trickster (famed for selling half-full cigarettes and whisky in the Middle East, or giving me a Rolex as an “heirloom” that after 10 years’ loving protection turned out to be a fake), one half of us at his wake sang “You’ll Never Walk Alone” followed by the other half with “Simply The Best”. Yet I was reliably informed that had they lived to see the day, both he and my granny would have voted Yes.

“As in football, as in life”, was my dad’s catchphrase. But the point here is that identity is multifaceted. It’s not a dichotomy, nor are seemingly-conflicting elements necessarily mutually exclusive. The fact that I’m in the armed forces and Britishness plays a part in my self-awareness and identity does NOT preclude any other elements contributing to my sense of who I am.

My comrades and I are a mixed bag. There are a lot of Scottish soldiers who are sharp, charismatic, with a strong sense of injustice. The community of serving and ex-servicemen and women holds what some may think is a surprising amount of Yes voters, as well as people who “don’t have enough information” and still haven’t made their minds up.

I’ve just started a fledgling “Forces for YES” Facebook group, there’s also “Veterans for Yes” as well as other military-related groups. Many more, due to Queen’s Regulations, don’t feel too comfortable being overtly political. My point is we exist – the forces vote is not a foregone conclusion, and it’s certainly not the ramrod for No it’s often perceived and portrayed to be.

Our glorious and individually mongrel, hopscotch, patchwork identities are exactly that: glorious and individual. The variety of people who consider being “a Scot” as part of their identity is itself part of my identity. That may be hard to follow, so I’ll say it clearly: being inclusive, open minded, friendly, and multifaceted is very much part of for me what being a Scot is all about.

I am a “soldier boy”, a dunderhead, a football man. I’m a quarter Welsh, Bahrain-born, Dunblaner, nomad, living in Germany married to a Canadian, and I’m Scottish. I’m all of those things at once, and I’m voting Yes.

Dedicated to you all my friends, Ovat, Chukwudi, Christain,etc.May the Good Lord Protect YOU all from Danger AMEN