Yorkshire war veteran's joy at son's poignant gesture as Black Watch piper plays outside his care home window

The sweet skirl of a piper brought a little light to a North Yorkshire nursing home and a beaming smile to the face of a war veteran.
Henry McKenzie Johnston a 99 year old veteran of WW2 at the Greenwell Nursing Home in Bedale , watches Stephen Beattie a Piper with the Black Watch Association Pipe Band from Stoke on Trent playing the pipes. Image Gary Longbottom.Henry McKenzie Johnston a 99 year old veteran of WW2 at the Greenwell Nursing Home in Bedale , watches Stephen Beattie a Piper with the Black Watch Association Pipe Band from Stoke on Trent playing the pipes. Image Gary Longbottom.
Henry McKenzie Johnston a 99 year old veteran of WW2 at the Greenwell Nursing Home in Bedale , watches Stephen Beattie a Piper with the Black Watch Association Pipe Band from Stoke on Trent playing the pipes. Image Gary Longbottom.

Henry McKenzie Johnston, a 99-year-old who served with the Black Watch in the Second World War, recently moved to Greenwell House in Bedale.

While visits are curtailed, his son Robert McKenzie Johnston sought instead the services of a Black Watch-affiliated piper from the Stoke-on-Trent band to bring some cheer to his father’s day.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Mr McKenzie Johnston Snr was able to enjoy the sound of the pipes he heard so often during his service days.

Henry McKenzie Johnston a 99 year old veteran of WW2 at the Greenwell Nursing Home in Bedale , watches Stephen Beattie a Piper with the Black Watch Association Pipe Band from Stoke on Trent playing the pipes. Image Gary Longbottom.Henry McKenzie Johnston a 99 year old veteran of WW2 at the Greenwell Nursing Home in Bedale , watches Stephen Beattie a Piper with the Black Watch Association Pipe Band from Stoke on Trent playing the pipes. Image Gary Longbottom.
Henry McKenzie Johnston a 99 year old veteran of WW2 at the Greenwell Nursing Home in Bedale , watches Stephen Beattie a Piper with the Black Watch Association Pipe Band from Stoke on Trent playing the pipes. Image Gary Longbottom.

“He loved it,” said Mr McKenzie Johnston Jnr. He added: “It was very well attended by many people and the piper played some lovely pieces.

"The older my father gets the less he remembers of modern things but he remembers the Black Watch very fondly. This was just to bring a little cheer.”

Read More
Yorkshire's veterans poignant recollections of VE Day amid liberation and sorrow

Mr McKenzie Johnston Snr joined up straight from school in 1940, rising through the ranks from private to major at a rapid pace through the war.

Henry McKenzie Johnston a 99 year old veteran of WW2 with Judith Christofferson Manager of the Greenwell Nursing Home in Bedale. Image: Gary LongbottomHenry McKenzie Johnston a 99 year old veteran of WW2 with Judith Christofferson Manager of the Greenwell Nursing Home in Bedale. Image: Gary Longbottom
Henry McKenzie Johnston a 99 year old veteran of WW2 with Judith Christofferson Manager of the Greenwell Nursing Home in Bedale. Image: Gary Longbottom
Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He was awarded a mention in dispatches for capturing a German machine-gun position armed only with a pistol.

He served particularly in North Africa and Cassino in Italy, where he was wounded by the British when the Royal Artillery dropped a shell on him.

He would go on to Greece before forging a career with the Foreign Office, where he served for many years.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Support The Yorkshire Post and become a subscriber today.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Your subscription will help us to continue to bring quality news to the people of Yorkshire. In return, you'll see fewer ads on site, get free access to our app and receive exclusive members-only offers.

So, please - if you can - pay for our work. Just £5 per month is the starting point. If you think that which we are trying to achieve is worth more, you can pay us what you think we are worth. By doing so, you will be investing in something that is becoming increasingly rare. Independent journalism that cares less about right and left and more about right and wrong. Journalism you can trust.

Thank you

James Mitchinson

Related topics: