Yorkshire war veteran's joy at son's poignant gesture as Black Watch piper plays outside his care home window
Henry McKenzie Johnston, a 99-year-old who served with the Black Watch in the Second World War, recently moved to Greenwell House in Bedale.
While visits are curtailed, his son Robert McKenzie Johnston sought instead the services of a Black Watch-affiliated piper from the Stoke-on-Trent band to bring some cheer to his father’s day.
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Hide AdMr McKenzie Johnston Snr was able to enjoy the sound of the pipes he heard so often during his service days.
“He loved it,” said Mr McKenzie Johnston Jnr. He added: “It was very well attended by many people and the piper played some lovely pieces.
"The older my father gets the less he remembers of modern things but he remembers the Black Watch very fondly. This was just to bring a little cheer.”
Mr McKenzie Johnston Snr joined up straight from school in 1940, rising through the ranks from private to major at a rapid pace through the war.
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Hide AdHe was awarded a mention in dispatches for capturing a German machine-gun position armed only with a pistol.
He served particularly in North Africa and Cassino in Italy, where he was wounded by the British when the Royal Artillery dropped a shell on him.
He would go on to Greece before forging a career with the Foreign Office, where he served for many years.
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