Pioneering paratrooper remembers the day he missed doomed plane ... and lived
Eion McEwan
A WAR hero who dodged death when he was wounded in action has spoken of his time serving Queen and country.
Eion McEwan – one of the first members of the Parachute Regiment – is celebrating his 90th birthday.
Eion was 18 when he joined the army in 1940. A year later he was asked to join the newly-established Parachute Regiment created during World War II.
He was a member of the 5th Scottish Battalion and served in North Africa, in the battle of Monte Cassino in Italy, France and Greece.
Eion, from Milton of Campsie, recalled: “The parachuting itself was nothing, it was what was down below you.
“I was wounded in Greece and the plane I could have been on to Italy went missing over the Mediterranean. Two of my mates were on it.”
Eion and his late wife, Cathy, spent 22 years in New York before returning to Scotland.
Eion, who turns 90 on July 8, is a member of the Stirlingshire Branch of the Parachute Regiment, which meets on a monthly basis.
He has regularly shared his experiences as a paratrooper with young recruits.
Eion is pictured above with a photo of himself taken outside Glasgow Cathedral during Airborne Day Scotland.
He will be joined by family and friends to mark the special occasion at Milton of Campsie Bowling Club.
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Thursday 23 May 2013
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