Farewell to former "Desert Rat".

Jimmy Sinclair: 1912 – 2020

The obituary appeared in this Saturday’s edition of the Times Scotland of Jimmy Sinclair of Kirkcaldy, for many years a friend of Giffordtown. It records the life and times of a real gentleman.

As a gunner with the elite Chestnut Troop of the 7th. Armoured Division, the Desert Rats, Jimmy saw action in the Egyptian desert in 1942 against Field Marshall Rommel’s army. He was awarded medals for his role in the siege of Tobruk, the battle of El Alamein and assaults on Monte Cassino in Italy, although he refused to wear them out of solidarity to the “good mates” he lost.

He later served for two years with the Allied Control Commission in Berlin, before returning to Scotland to continue work as a slater, the trade he learned after leaving school.

After the war, Jimmy was to strike up an unlikely friendship with Field Marshall Rommel’s family, exchanging letters with them for many years. Another correspondent and friend was Camilla, Duchess of Rothesay, whose father, Bruce Shand, also served as a Desert Rat.

During an interview with the Courier in August 2019, on the occasion of his 107th. birthday, Jimmy revealed the secret of his longevity was a daily dram of Johnnie Walker whisky - and a good sense of humour!

This pawky approach was shown in a ditty Jimmy wrote, in response to local consternation at the siting of an ostrich farm (now Fife Animal Park), near Kinloch, which he sent to his relative, Mrs. Jessie Cameron (née Sinclair). The Giffordtown reporter, Monique Sanders, included it in her Fife Herald column of 19 January 1996.

The folks in Jeff are in a stew

They’re all a-wondering what to do.

Pigs and chickens they can pardon,

But not an ostrich in their garden;

A pound in weight will cost a tenner,

So as to have an ostrich ‘denner’.

I may see one passing by

And I am glad those birds can’t fly!

Giffordtownians certainly appreciated the joke and will remember him with affection.

Monique Sanders.