Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) tunic belonging to Ronald Hugh Grierson, 1944 circa (fabric)

Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) tunic belonging to Ronald Hugh Grierson, 1944 circa. Grierson was a German Jew, whose family fled Germany for London after Hitler’s rise to power. Whilst he was an undergraduate at the University of Oxford, Grierson was arrested and interned as a foreign national. After three months he was cleared and joined the Army Pioneer Corps. He spent two years digging drains in the West Country before securing a transfer to the Army Air Corps and then being commissioned with the Black Watch. He then went on to serve with ‘B’ Squadron Special Air Service in Italy, France, Germany and Norway. He was wounded twice and eventually captured in 1945. The tunic has medal ribbons for the 1939-45 Star, Italy Star, France and Germany Star and the Defence Medal. It also has Grierson’s coloured silk embroidered Special Air Service wings.