Scotland to remember fallen on Armistice Day

Swinney, whose uncle Cpl Tom Hunter was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross after dying in Italy during World War Two in 1945, said: “It is central to our understanding of our freedoms and our democracy today that we understand the sacrifices which were made by previous generation to make sure we could live in the type of society we live in.”

Army veteran Derek “Benny” Bennett, who spent 25 years as a member of the armed forces, said the “scars” service personnel carried from “less talked-about” wars were just as real as those experienced by former soldiers who fought in more prominent conflicts.

Mr Bennett, 72, who served with the parachute regiment in Northern Ireland, was speaking ahead of the traditional Armistice Day ceremonies set to take place across Scotland.

Mr Bennett, originally from Shotton in North Wales, lives in a home run by veterans’ charity Erskine in Edinburgh.

He saw active service in Northern Ireland, served in a peacekeeping mission in Cyprus, and as a liaison officer in the Gulf War.

He recalled one episode at the height of the Troubles when a rocket fired from an RPG missed his vehicle by “six inches” and another when serving with the Paras on the ground in Cyprus in 1974 during the Turkish invasion.