The Lowlander
banner
thelowlander.bsky.social
The Lowlander
@thelowlander.bsky.social
The Lowlander weekly podcast - Andy and Merryn share the service newsletter that was sent out daily to men of the 52nd Lowland Division Nov 44 / May 45.
There aren’t enough conversations about “losing our marbles” - but we nearly lost the plot this week, getting to the bottom of who was fighting whom in Greece.

🏛️What we can say, is alas (ELAS?) it’s complicated…
🇬🇷Find out more in Ep 04: It’s all Greek to me.
open.spotify.com/episode/1RZn...
December 7, 2023 at 11:35 AM
💥And this week in The Lowlander - with many other jottings - we totally lose our marbles over the key to Greek peace (and war).

🏛️ Episode 04, up now. ☺️
🔗All great pod platforms!*
🧶More waffle all week on Insta…

*Googlepods is hopeless 🙄
December 4, 2023 at 7:31 AM
💥Then there’s a report on a bit of a hiccup on the northern line (won’t make a difference to progress across Germany but good to know things haven’t changed at home ☹️) ~
December 4, 2023 at 7:30 AM
💥 There’s a story about Dutch women and their unfortunate propensity for marrying German soldiers, whom they refused to abandon. This lovely lady marched right off to the Prisoner of War cages ~
December 4, 2023 at 7:29 AM
💥 Who was Albert Alexander? Well, there’s a nod to his role in the development of penicillin as The Lowlander includes a snippet on what’s happening on the home front ~
December 4, 2023 at 7:28 AM
🏛️🇬🇷 It’s All Greek to Me🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏛️

Episode 04! Drying out from efforts on Walcheren, men of the 52nd Lowland Division are getting used to issues of the newsletter arriving regularly.

This week, in The Lowlander …
December 4, 2023 at 7:27 AM
🛡️ And finally, just before the fitba, it's Thought for the Day. This time, from Oliver Cromwell.
November 20, 2023 at 11:17 AM
🛡️Operation CLIPPER gets a mention in this week's Lowlander: the Allied offensive by XXX (Thirty / 30) Corps to reduce the Geilenkirchen salient.
November 20, 2023 at 11:17 AM
🛡️ One mention of Brodick or the Isle of Arran is all it takes for Him, one hint of a Militärgeographische Arbeiten for Her. 🙄

We hope you're all taking notes.
Relying on you for corrections.
November 20, 2023 at 11:16 AM
🛡️YES, JEEVES. Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE was an English writer, but would have been known to the Jocks already as an author and humorist. But was he a Nazi sympathiser? probably not. Still, he gets a mention in The Lowlander...
November 20, 2023 at 11:15 AM
🛡️Meet Councillor James Dewar.

Now, this is the kind of story you cannot invent, but you can send out to keep the men of the 52nd Lowland Division updated with what's happening in their home towns (in this case, Aberdeen).
November 20, 2023 at 11:15 AM
🛡️ The first mention of a VC in The Lowlander is not for a Jock, it's for Lance Sergeant John Daniel Baskeyfield - Gun Commander of 2 Anti-Tank Platoon, Support Company, 2nd (Airborne) Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment - who was at Arnhem. 🕊️
November 20, 2023 at 11:14 AM
🛡️ We've picked quite a mix of stories this week, but every episode starts with an update on where the 52nd Lowland Division is and what they've been doing. Spoiler: they're still on Walcheren.
November 20, 2023 at 11:14 AM
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿The Lowlander 02: FANCY TEA TRAYS.

Slipping into your Monday mornings from here-on in, it’s news and views from the front lines, jottings from home and updates for the 52nd Lowland Division.

✨Daily news: Nov 20 ~ 26, 1944.
✨Here's your preview...
November 20, 2023 at 11:13 AM
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 So… weekly from 15.11.2023, you can expect more bumper facts like this, plus all the gossip, general news, politics, jottings from home, victory and defeat, football scores and more in The Lowlander: the service newsletter that sits between the grown-up podcasts. ☺️🖌️

PS. No threads is a bit sucky.
November 9, 2023 at 5:41 PM
🎙️ It has been said, one of the Army Education Branch's greatest achievements was supporting the 1945 General Election but as men feared the return to poor housing and no jobs seen by veterans of the FWW, most soldiers voted Labour, not just the lowland Jocks.
November 9, 2023 at 5:39 PM
🪩 The Lowlander's competitions asked the Jocks to make up slogans, in turn encouraging the completion of AF B2626 and eligibility to vote. Posters at home served the same purpose: 'SERVE AS A SOLDIER, VOTE AS A CITIZEN'.
November 9, 2023 at 5:38 PM
📃As the 1945 General Election drew nearer, every vote was essential - but without filling in Army Form B2626, men couldn't apply for Form E, 'Service Postal Voter's Application', and get onto the electoral register while serving overseas.
November 9, 2023 at 5:38 PM
🖌️ We'll share snippets from stories chosen for The Lowlander and articles that didn't make the cut, too. Like this one from November 19 - a plea for competition entries.
📃What was AF B2626?
🪩Who was asked to invent a slogan for it?
🎙️Why was this in an army service newsletter?
November 9, 2023 at 5:36 PM
Hello Ian.
November 9, 2023 at 5:17 PM
November 7, 2023 at 9:54 AM