Recently the death occurred at Fairview House Nursing Home Aberdeen of John Rainnie who spent his formative years at the family home of West Moss Side Monymusk. John requested that he have a private family funeral. His brother in law, Charles Brown, paid tribute to John as follows.

I have been asked by Emi to say a few words. Alas, a few words would be insufficient to describe such a man as John. You will forgive me then if I concentrate on two main themes, - his bravery and his consideration for others.

What though on homely fare we dine,
Wear hoddin gray, an' a' that;
Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine,
A Man's a Man for a' that:
For a' that, and a' that,
Their tinsel show, an' a' that;
The honest man, tho' e'er sae poor,
Is king o' men for a' that.
Then let us pray that come it may
(As come it will for a' that)
That Sense and Worth o'er a' the earth,
Shall bear the gree, an' a' that.
For a' that, and a' that,
It's cornin' yet for a' that,
That Man to Man, the world o'er,
Shall brothers be for a' that.
What though on homely fare we dine,

 If ever there was a man that put himself in danger for the good of his fellow men, that man was John. What he did for us as a soldier is not really appreciated by us. For six long years, he and his mates faced the flying bullets and shells of oppressors, and won. We are all here today, living in freedom, because of him and his like.

Most servicemen, such as myself, did not come face to face with the savagery of the invaders. We were in the background trying to keep supplies going to the fighters at the front. To us, John and his companions were in the same class as the heroic Battle of Britain pilots in their spitfires and hurricanes. He was in the thick of battle.

His first real encounter was when the Germans broke through the French line and surrounded his regiment which managed to hold its ground for a few days. He was wounded and carted off to a French hospital from which he immediately escaped to board a fishing boat at Bordeaux which took him back to Blighty.

In the lull that followed paratroops were formed to be dropped behind enemy lines. John, of course, wanted to be up and at them, and joined. They became an extremely efficient and special unit. John's regiment was dropped in the centre of German occupied North West Africa.

John has been mentioned in at least two books written about the war. Here are some quotes which show the dangers around him.

A FIERCE QUALITY by Julian James

(North Africa)

Without sleep, without food and with little water, they fought fiercely on and still somehow kept the Germans at bay. There were twins in the Battalion, Tony and Teddy Barker, from London. During a lull in the fighting, Tony confided his fears to Jock Rainnie.

"By all the laws of average," he said, "one of us is bound to be knocked out. They can't keep slinging this stuff at us without one of us copping it."

Before the day was over both were to die.

From the same book: (North Africa, Tamera District)

As Brigadier Pearson looked over the battlefield he saw two Scotsmen, Sergeant Jock Rainnie from Aberdeen and Private Jock McCutcheon, bringing in a wounded man, Lieutenant Cairne. He was dying but he insisted on telling his rescuers that out in the semi-darkness lay another man waiting to be saved.

"I've been lying there for hours listening to him tapping two stones together to attract attention."

Rainnie and McCutcheon went out once more into no-man's land to search for the wounded man. Although it was nearly daylight and they were in danger of being caught in the open when the battle resumed they hunted until they found him. He was a young German. The two Scots lifted him between them and carried him back to their lines.

The German smiled thinly.

"You are Scottish?"

"Yes," Sergeant Rainnie told him.

"I studied at Glasgow University for many years. I admire your poets. Do you know-

My heart's in the Highlands, My heart is not here, My heart's in the Highlands a chasing the deer….."

Can you imagine the frightening situations John was in? I said to him once that I would have been scared and panicking if I had been there.

"Oh but I was scared," was the reply. It was then that I learned that bravery is being scared and still facing the front. What gave John the stamina? The answer is in the next quote.

DOWN TO EARTH by Arthur Kellas

Sergeant Rainnie, a great fresh-faced Scotsman of nineteen, straight into the army from his father's farm at Monymusk in Aberdeenshire, only now learning about drink and smoke, reciting Robert Burns by the page until he would stop with a puzzled smile and confess, "Maan, A furrget ….." and quietly determined to match his parent's Military Medal when we got to the fighting.

(John's father had been given his medal by the French government for extreme bravery in World War 1 when he crept forward into no- man's land with a hand grenade to blow up a machine gun which was killing many Frenchmen.)

And John's father must have been proud of him. Three mention in despatches hang on the wall to prove it. And, can you see the repetition of his father's act in the next quote. He had been dropped in Sicily to hold a bridge for the invading allies.

SICILY DROP

"Fight the barbarians off as long as possible," Pearson told his men.

As he watched through his binoculars, one of his veteran sergeants from North Africa, Jock Rainnie, scrambled along a roadside ditch and lobbed a couple of grenades into the first two trucks, which exploded a couple of seconds later into great balls of orange flame. (They happened to be ammo trucks) The Germans ran from their trucks and spread out into the surrounding fields.

To continue his saga. The invasion of Europe had begun. John was dropped with his cronies at Arnhem to hold the bridge for the advancing foot soldiers. The stormy weather made it impossible to keep up their supplies but John and his mates held the bridge against great odds until their ammunition ran out and they were made prisoners.

John stayed on in the army after victory and was in many more hotspots.

It was now that his concern for others began to predominate when he returned to civvy street to enjoy a more settled life with Emi and his loons, first as a custom's officer and then retired.

He set a high standard in his work and behaviour in his civilian life, just as he had done as a soldier fighting for right to prevail.

He was very concerned about the sicknesses of old soldiers, the more so as time passed. In fact he was more proud of a certificate he got for the work he did for the elderly and disabled than he was of his certificates for bravery.

Seven ages of John

First the bairn on mither's knee, lookin ower tae Bannachie
Syne a loon gyan doon the brae, tae dee his lessons for the day.
Then a sodger wi' a gun, Tryin hard tae stop the Hun.
A para neist on Arnhem's banks, Facin shells frae Jerry's tanks.
Noo in London openin cases o fleein fowk wi foreign faces.
Back here wi Emi hurlin roon, helpin aabody miles aroon.
An noo his selfless life's wark o'er, In Fairview's lovin care no more.
Then let us pray that come it may
(As come it will for a' that)
That Sense and Worth o'er a' the earth,
Shall bear the gree, an' a' that.
For a' that, and a' that,
It's cornin' yet for a' that,
That Man to Man, the world o'er,
Shall brothers be for a' that.  

Ta, Ta, John.