RAF veteran Ian Gilbert, who went on to teach future politicians Ian Blackford and Ken Macintosh before masterminding the election of John Swinney, has died aged 89.
Ian spent 16 years in the RAF, reaching the rank of Squadron Leader, before a career in teaching at the Royal High School in Edinburgh and Queensferry High School.
During his time as a geography teacher in Edinburgh his pupils included Ken Macintosh, presiding officer of the Scottish Parliament, and Ian Blackford, SNP Westminster leader.
John Swinney
When he retired to Pitlochry, Ian served as chairman of the SNP Atholl Branch and worked closely with John Swinney on the now Deputy First Minister’s election campaigns as his election agent.
Last year, Ian launched a campaign for the RAF emblem to to inscribed on the Pitlochry war memorial. It currently features just Army and Navy crests.
Ian was one of five children born in Bathgate to bus driver James Gilbert and his wife Isabella.
Dunkirk
His father had served in logistics with the British Expeditionary Force in France and was evacuated at Dunkirk before going on to civilian work in Sri Lanka.
Ian was educated at Bathgate Academy before graduating in geography and geology from Edinburgh University.
In March, 1954, he married Christine, a nurse at Bangour Hospital in West Lothian. They went on to have three sons, Peter, Kenneth and Douglas.
Royal Air Force
He joined the RAF as an education officer teaching, amongst other things, map reading and geography – vital subjects for his pupils.
During his 16 years’ service he was posted to RAF Muharraq, Bahrain, and RAF Butzweilerhof near Koln, Germany, and ended his career in 1971 at RAF Boulmer in Northumberland.
At the start of the 1970s he retrained as a civilian secondary teacher at Moray House in Edinburgh before securing a post as geography master at the Royal High School in the city.
Principal teacher
Ian taught there until 1982 when he moved to Queensferry High School, first as a geography teacher, before rising to become principal teacher of guidance.
During his time at both schools, Ian was involved in running school mountaineering clubs and often led weekend expeditions around Scotland.
In his retirement, Ian wrote a booklet on the history of the village of Moulin, worked as a guide at Blair Athol Distillery in Pitlochry, and took joy in his social visits to the Moulin Hotel, as well as working tirelessly for his political views.