WHEREVER WE look in the annals of The London Scottish over the last twenty years, the name Sgt James is frequently to be found. He is another of that now dwindling band of "old sweats", without which The London Scottish would never he the same. In those twenty odd years, he has worn many hats - signaller, cook, CO's orderly, clerk GD, and Officers Mess Steward. He was PMC of the Sgts Mess in 1976, and has himself contributed to this Gazette many times. He has even been mistaken for the Battalion Brahmin, and not without good cause. For apart from his "holier than thou" demeanour, he possesses many of those qualities necessary for good prelates - wisdom, experience, worldliness, compassion and good humour, which help make of him the man that he is.

Although David James has only been a member of The London Scottish since 1962, his military career goes back a good bit further. He did his National Service way back in 1949, with the RAOC. He maintains that he served without distinction, for he had wanted to join the Intelligence Corps instead. Consequently he found the life of a Cpl Clerk in Ordnance singularly uninteresting, and it clouded his outlook in things military, so that by the time he had completed his requisite two years, plus a further three in the Army Emergency Reserve, he was firmly resolved never to undertake any form of military service again. However once back in C-ivvy Street, he discovered that friends of his were in the TA, and in a moment of weakness joined the 23rd London Regiment at Clapham, in order to appease a pressing colleague. So much for his resolution. The 23rd were brigaded with The London Scottish, and it wasn't long before David came into contact with them, the first occasion being when The Scottish were at Castlemartin, Pembrokeshire, in 1960. This was the same famous Regiment in which David's uncle, Captain W. M. James, MC, MM had served during the First World War, and who in later years had led the famous London to Brighton March. It didn't take long for David to realise where his true loyalties lay, so in 1961 he transferred to The Scottish. He was posted to the Signals Platoon, then under the command of Lt Dick Headridge, and PSI Sgt Hughie Palmer. After passing out successfully on the RSI's course at Hythe, David was appointed RSI of "A" Coy in 1962. From that day to this, signalling has formed the basis of his interest in the TA, and he has remained Sigs instructor in one capacity or another up to the present. In 1971, David was awarded the TEM, and in 1973 was promoted to Sgt. He had held this rank previously in 1966, but had had to endure the ignominy of reduction following the reorganisation of The London Scottish into the 1st Battalion 51st Highland Volunteers in 1970.

David James is not the sort of soldier who is inclined to bark to other people, because he doesn't need to. He doesn't exhibit the characteristics common to most other soldiers, because he commands respect in other ways. -He is a good listener, but a thinker too; he is never brusque, is patient, wise and possessed of an inventive sense of humour. A lot of people mistake him for an officer - not surprisingly, for he has the presence and bearing of one. Above all he is one of the few people in the Coy that can tune a C42 radio blindfolded, erect a vertical half-rhombic antenna, or tell the difference between a dead spot and shadow. As Officers Mess "Havildar", he performs his duties with punctiliousness and dignity, He is a friend to all.

His affinity with ecclesiastical dignitaries was first exploited on a Coy weekend at Bexhill in the late Sixties. Members of the unit at a public house one evening, were chatting up the barmaid (a common perversion, even now) and succeeded in convincing her that they were all students at a local religious convention, and that David was a Bishop. From then on, the idea, and the nickname stuck, and led to a series of uproarious pranks in later years. David remembers a camp at Stanford PTA, near Thetford, some years ago, when as a member of a fatigue party on the last day, he and several others were ordered by the QM to empty the bogs which someone else had overlooked to do (in those days the latrines were somewhat rudimentary). A very unpleasant chore, as one can imagine, but it was done, and not without due ceremony. A cortege of bucket bearers was hurriedly organised, and the Bishop led them at the Slow March to the foul ground pit, where a Catafalque Party stood, heads bowed and arms reversed. When the last bucket had been emptied, His Grace led off with a paraphrased version of the Burial Service. He took a handful of earth, and sprinkled it over the grave, with the words "Earth to earth, dust to dust, ashes to ashes, in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection . . ." Then a period of silence was kept, the grave was filled in, and a Piper played the "Flowers of the Forest".

Now that Split Waterman has retired, David James is now one of the Coy's oldest "old sweats". To him retirement is out of the question - "I will die with my boots on thank you very much" he maintains. For he is still young at heart, and passes Tickle Tests with case. He counts among his highest achievements his appointment to PMC of the Sgts Mess in 1976. Outside the TA his interests are music - Mozart being his favourite composer, and his two teenage sons, Mark and Julian. He is married, and works in the insurance business.