LANCE CORPORAL John MacLeod shares the distinction with several other members of "G" Company of being a true Highlander.  Or to be more exact, an Islander, as his illustrious surname indicates.  He was born and grew up in the small village of Portnalong on the Isle of Skye.  Whisky connoisseurs will know the place well, for it is but a few miles along the road from Talisker, the distillery which gives its name to an equally small village on Loch Harport.  All around here is MacLeod country, and has been for centuries.  From Portnalong one can look across Loch Bracadale to the twin bills of Healabbal Mhor and Healabhal Beag on the Duirinish Peninsula, known locally as MacLeod's Tables. Rory Mhor, whose great drinking horn can be seen at Dunvegan Castle, was one of John's more notable ancestors.

The few roads on Skye rarely traverse the shortest distance between two points, rather they follow the deeply indented coastline.  When John graduated from the small village school, he went on to attend the High School in Portree, ten miles as the crow flies, on the other side of the island. The journey, however, involved over forty road miles every day!  After leaving High School, he went to the mainland, and studied at the Dundee College of Commerce before joining the Civil Service.  In 1974 he was posted to London with the Department of Energy, and presently works with the Overseas Development Corporation in Stag Place, a few hundred yards from No 59.

John MacLeod, like all good expatriate Scots, joined the London Scottish in 1977 and served in various capacities in the rifle platoons until 1980, when he was transferred to the Anti- tank platoon.

He has a quiet personality - uncomplaining, unassuming, and is thoroughly honest and hard-working. We give him no credit for these qualities, for they are products of his race, and common to the Islanders. His sober and imperturbable appearance hides a good sense of humour, for he will share a joke and drink with the best (or worst) of us at any time. His forebears were a fierce fighting clan, and "the Cockney Jocks" are proud that its ranks still contain such representatives of the Highlands and Islands as be. Those men of the Anti-tank platoon who work beside him and know him best have the highest regard for him.

John's interests include photography and piping. When asked if he was a keen climber (with the Cuillin Hills so close to home) he stated he would rather take on Partick Thistle in arm-wrestling than dangle at the end of a rope, but admitted those hills were a grand sight when coming home after a long stint in sterile London. He took lessons on the pipes whilst at Portree High School, but discontinued whilst attending College. He hopes to resume piping more actively when he returns to Scotland later this year. He is single and lives in Norwood.

With the Civil Service prudently de-centralising in all directions, John MacLeod will be leaving "G" Company in June to go and live in East Kilbride, and we shall lose him, probably to one of the Lowland battalions. "G" Company wishes him well for the future, and "Haste ye back"