The skirl of the pipes drifted through the Croatian highlands as a Dundee piper from the 7th battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland – 7 Scots – put on several moving performances during Exercise Sava Star attended by The Courier.
Private Keith Christie, 24, from Dundee, and Lance Corporal David Hay, 34, from Livingston played a number of traditional pipes and drums tunes including Bonnie Dundee and Scotland the Brave as dusk fell across the Red Earth camp, near Split.
The performance also captured the imagination of Croatian Army soldiers as the pair climbed atop a redundant T72 Soviet-designed battle tank and played tunes silhouetted against the sunset.
One Croatian even jumped up to be photographed with the Scots pair whilst hoisting his Hadjuk Split football scarf!
Private Christie, a former pupil of Forthill Primary and Grove Academy, has been with the Army Reserve for more than five years.
He had already given the Scots soldiers and media visitors a taste of his tunes with a 5.45 am wake-up call each morning during our stay at the camp, high in the Croatian mountains, close to the Bosnian border.
Going into his second year as an architectural technology student at Dundee and Angus College, he has played the pipes since he was taught as a nine-year-old by renowned Pipe Major Ian Duncan and loves combining soldiering with his love of music.
The former pipe sergeant of the National Youth Band of Scotland said: “It’s fairly simple.
“The Reserves is very much a case of what you put into it you’ll get back. If you can’t make a weekend you can’t make a weekend. There’s no commitment other than the minimum 27 days per year. I really enjoy it. I wouldn’t be standing in Croatia if I didn’t.”
Private Christie said he’d been all over the world with Army Reserve from America, Cyprus, Denmark, Forteventura, just to name but a few.
He adds: “It’s really interesting working with the Croatians. We like to have international relations and see how they do things.”
Lance Corporal Hay, learned to play the drums when he joined the regular army Royal Scots aged 18. He has been with the Reserves 3.5 years and now works for 7 Scots full-time.
“Pipes and drums certainly take you to a lot more places than you’d imagine,” said the veteran of 10 Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoos.
“I’ve probably got more out of the Reserves than I got out of the regulars, but as Keith says, you get out what you put in.”
