My time with 45 Commando

     The time was circa 1972.

          We USA Marines were living there as part of being hosted for our athletic team. Now even then they were converting from coal to something else to heat the water and the rooms, and it was not a fun time for us US Marines. In the meantime, the whole Commando was deployed away, though they did come home later.

            What I remember are many things about my USA time there.

            I enjoyed playing crocket while wearing a coat and a tie on a perfectly manicured lawn.

            I appreciated our common customs.  For example the night before the Commando returned to Arbroath,  I attended a dining out with their wives. The next day, after their return, I attended a dining in, where all of us US Marines did not even get the time of day from their 45 Commando wives. Though the customs were the same.

            We had a common hour at breakfast, which was quiet time. I liked it.

            The Staff NCO's pretty much ran things in the AM.

            The idea of PT at 0600 was abhorrent to the officers I spoke with.

            That we Yanks wanted ice for our drinks was disdained. Ice interfered with the flavor of the booze as I was told.

            The club used a "chit" system for payment. It added up when I got the bill in California.

            I attended a real Scottish Highland Games. Thank goodness I did not say anything adverse about kilts. These local boys would have hurt my USMC rear-end.

            Once when changing clothes in a barn in Scotland, we were confronted by the local farmers. And like a dog, I could tell by the tone these farmers were not happy; but also like the old joke in the movie Patton, we were separated by a common language. Neither could understand what the other was saying.

            Years later I got to do a pay back, and enjoyed the opportunity.