The man who dropped the bomb which sunk the Bismarck has said he would be “betraying” his comrades who didn’t come home if he backed independence.
Second World War hero John “Jock” Moffat, from Dunkeld, spoke out on Thursday after Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson addressed veterans at the Royal George Hotel in Perth urging them to vote No in a fortnight.
The 95-year-old lieutenant commander carried out their death-defying but ultimately successful mission to drop the torpedo which crippled the ship’s rudder and led to her eventual sinking in May 1941, alongside his colleagues in 818 Squadron.
Mr Moffat said: “Listening to that speech today, I felt as if my chaps that I joined up with and who didn’t make it, I feel as if I would have betrayed them by voting Yes.
“I was a Scot in the British Army and I didn’t have any problem being Scottish and British. We have always been that way and why should we not keep the status quo?”
The former Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm pilot also hit out at Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon, adding: “I think the heads of the SNP are not quite true in what they say. I have a feeling that they are trying to find sources of money which aren’t there.
“They’re very clever they come across on the television and they may sway some of the people, but I hope that the people will vote from an economic point of view and not from the heart.”
In her speech, Ms Davidson highlighted the work of British forces across the globe, including humanitarian efforts in the Philippines following the typhoon last year and in the Caribbean to tackle drug traffickers.
Drawing on the forces’ long history, the Conservative leader said Mr Moffat’s example told her “there are bonds of history and geography across our small island that go very, very, deep”.
She said: “Those bonds will weaken if we don’t keep the United Kingdom in two weeks’ time.”
Audience members questioned Ms Davidson over whether Better Together was getting its message out loudly enough.
She compared the campaign to a football match where Yes was the “away support behind the goal” making more noise than the majority of home fans. She also defended UK defence policy, including restructuring in Scotland.
However, Jimmy Sinclair, one of the last surviving members of the legendary Desert Rats, rejected her claims about defence, and said the No campaign was “getting desperate”.
The Kirkcaldy man, who turned 102 years old in August, said: “The No camp must stop playing politics with Scotland’s fallen war heroes it’s totally unfair, misrepresentative and just plain wrong of them.
“This is really offensive stuff sacrifices made on the battlefield of the past wars are respected by everyone.
“I will be voting Yes in the referendum, because I am a patriot and I believe in Scotland’s future.”