Captain Ronnie Williamson , No.1 Cdo. & Copps

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 21/04/2013 21:02:20

Ronnie Williamson was educated in Edinburgh and as he left school, the Second World War broke out. He joined the Gordon Highlanders and was little more than a boy when he volunteered for the Commandos. He rose from Corporal to Captain in 14 months in No 1 Commando. He later became a member of one of the Combined Operations Pilotage Parties teams. Later in his life he was a member of the Edinburgh Branch of the Commando Association. A photo of Ronnie, who was good friend of my father, can be viewed here:

http://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/v/Commando+Gatherings+pre+CVA/reunions/Edinburgh+Branch/Edinburgh+CA.jpg.html

One of the causes dearest to his heart was the safe-guarding of the memory of the Commandos. He was later made chairman of the Scottish Commandos and took particular pride and poured in great effort to protect their monument and its surroundings at Spean Bridge. Right to the end, he fought for some way for their names to be written out so they would not be forgotten. His last project was to ensure that a memorial was erected to Cpl Tom Hunter, VC, the only Royal Marine Commando to win the VC in the Second World War. The ceremony took place the day before Ronnie's funeral at the Ocean Terminal in Leith, and still takes place annually at the Memorial. One of the benches at the side of the Memorial is dedicated to Ronnie who passed away on the 9th June 2002. (extracts taken from his obituary in the Scotsman)

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 21/04/2013 23:47:07

Ronnie was a wonderful man and very active within the Commando Association. His lovely wife Betty, living in New Zealand, is an associate member of the CVA. One of Ronnie's aspirations was to have a memorial wall erected at the Commando Memorial at Spean Bridge listing all of the names of the Commandos that were killed during WW2, unfortunately it never came to fruition due to certain reasons. However it was largely due to Ronnie that I was inspired to have the Commando Memorial Wall added to the Army Commando Memorial Wall at Alrewas, listing over 1200 names, to be unveiled on Sunday 30 June 2013.

Rest in Peace Ronnie

We will remember them