Alastair Borthwick
| Alastair Borthwick | |
|---|---|
| File:Alastair BorthwickAlastair Borthwick Alastair Borthwick | |
| Native name | Alastair Borthwick |
| Born | Alastair Borthwick 1913/02/17 Rutherglen, Glasgow City, United Kingdom |
| 🏳️ Nationality | United Kingdom |
| 🏫 Education | Glasgow High School |
| 💼 Occupation | Writer, Journalist and Broadcaster |
| 📆 Years active | 1935 - 1994 |
| Known for | Always a Little Further: A Classic Tale of Camping, Hiking and Climbing in Scotland in the Thirties |
| Works | Always a Little Further, Battalion |
| 🏡 Home town | Troon, United Kingdom |
| ❤️ Partner(s) | Anne |
| Honors | Officer of the Order of the British Empire |
Alastair Charles Borthwick OBE (17 February 1913 – 25 September 2003) was a Scottish author and television broadcaster. He is best known for his 1939 book, Always a Little Further: A Classic Tale of Camping, Hiking and Climbing in Scotland in the Thirties. This book detailed his own experiences rock climbing and observations of rock climbing's increasing popularity among the working class in Scotland[1] at the time. His second book, published in 1946 as Sans Peur, The History of the 5th (Caithness and Sutherland) Battalion, the Seaforth Highlanders, recounted World War II from the perspective of an infantryman. The book was later republished as Battalion: a British infantry unit's actions from El Alamein to the Elbe, 1942-1945 in 1994.
Early Life
Alastair Borthwick, born Alastair Charles Borthwick, was born on 17 February 1913 in Rutherglen, United Kingdom. He was raised in Troon, and later in Glasgow, where he attended Glasgow High School. While at school, he was in the Officer Training Corps. In 1929, at the age of sixteen, Alastair Borthwick left school to work as a copytaker for the Evening Times, marking the start of his journalistic career.
Career
Alastair Borthwick began his career in 1929 at the age of sixteen, taking a position as a copytaker for the Evening Times after leaving school. He subsequently joined the Glasgow Weekly Herald. Working for the smaller paper, Borthwick contributed to a wide range of topics. His work on the Herald's "Open Air" page exposed him to rock climbing[2]. Traditionally a sport for the wealthy, rock climbing was gaining popularity amongst young working-class people in Scotland at that time. The articles Borthwick wrote for the "Open Air" section of the newspaper later formed the basis for his first book, Always a Little Further.
In 1935, Borthwick secured a position on the Daily Mirror in Fleet Street. Though a career advancement, the London lifestyle did not appeal to Borthwick[3], and he returned to Glasgow within a year, working as a BBC radio correspondent. Always a Little Further was published in 1939. Beyond documenting rock climbing and the outdoors in Scotland, the book also captured the social shift[4] from a sport primarily enjoyed by the upper classes to one increasingly popular among the working class.
During World War II, Alastair Borthwick served with various British Army units in North Africa, Sicily, and Western Europe. Initially a private in the Highland Light Infantry, his anticipated commissioning as a Second Lieutenant on 2 September 1939 was delayed, not rescheduled until 3 November 1941, by which time he was a Lance Corporal. Serving primarily as a Battalion Intelligence Officer, he eventually reached the rank of Captain. He transferred to the 5th Seaforth Highlanders on 13 October 1944.
Following the war, Borthwick wrote his second book[3], Sans Peur, The History of the 5th (Caithness and Sutherland) Battalion, the Seaforth Highlanders, published in 1946. This book offered a front-line perspective on his regiment's experiences during the latter half of World War II, distinct from many regimental histories compiled by committees or senior officers.
In the 1960s, Alastair Borthwick transitioned to television, producing 150 half-hour programmes for Grampian TV covering a diverse range of topics. He presented and wrote programmes covering figures from Joseph McCarthy to Bonnie Prince Charlie. Borthwick considered the thirteen-part series Scottish Soldier, a history of Scottish regiments from the infantryman's viewpoint, to be his finest work from this period. He continued to work primarily as a radio and television broadcaster throughout the remainder of his career.
Alastair Borthwick was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1952 New Year Honours for his role in organizing an engineering exhibition as part of the Festival of Britain.
Personal Life
Alastair Borthwick married Anne in 1940. After the war, they moved from Glasgow to Jura, where Borthwick combined crofting and fishing with broadcasting for the BBC. In 1952, they moved to Islay, before returning to Glasgow.
In the 1970s, the Borthwicks moved to Ayrshire, residing on a hill farm. Alastair later moved to a nursing home in Beith, five years before his death in 2003.
References
- ↑ Times, The. “Alastair Borthwick.” The Times, The Times, 18 Oct. 2003, www.thetimes.co.uk/article/alastair-borthwick-gf0fkwlb07r.
- ↑ “Obituary: Alastair Borthwick.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 9 Oct. 2003, www.theguardian.com/news/2003/oct/09/guardianobituaries.booksobituaries.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 “ALASTAIR BORTHWICK.” Alastair Borthwick: Biography on Undiscovered Scotland, Undiscovered Scotland, www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/usbiography/b/alastairborthwick.html.
- ↑ “Alastair Borthwick.” The Telegraph, Telegraph Media Group, 4 Oct. 2003, www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1443193/Alastair-Borthwick.html.
