Final farewell to Korean War veteran (92) honoured for services to Royal British Legion Scotland in Inverness
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For six decades, Bill Dingwall was a familiar figure at the main Remembrance parade and ceremony in Inverness each November.
As a member of the Inverness branch of the Royal British Legion Scotland (RBLS), he proudly carried the standard or took a commanding role in the parade as well as other ceremonial occasions.
Fellow members of the RBLS have now bid a final and poignant farewell to their comrade following his death at the age of 92.
It comes a year after he was named as a recipient of the British Empire Medal for his voluntary service to the RBLS in the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Birthday Honours List before she died.
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Mr Dingwall, who lived in Dalneigh, was a former submariner and joined the RBLS after serving with the Royal Navy which included service in the Korean War.
In an interview last year with the Inverness Courier, he outlined the importance of the RBLS and remembering those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.
“It is about service not self – that is the legion motto,” he said at the time.
As a youngster, he attended Merkinch Primary School and Inverness High School and went on to train as a stoker/engineer after joining the Royal Navy in 1948.
He served on the frigate Black Swan, the first British ship in action in the Korean War, and later went on to serve on submarines.
The experience prompted him to join the RBLS in 1955 after he left the Royal Navy and went to work at the Rose Street Foundry in Inverness.
During last year's interview, he played down his wartime role: "I was a war veteran but without really being in a war. I only thought it was right to help other veterans who had come through war.
"There is nothing better than helping a person."
He became a member of the Inverness RBLS branch committee in 1966 and took on roles such as standard bearer, which involved training others including cadets, and parade commander.
He carried the standard at the 2021 Remembrance service at the city’s Cavell Gardens war memorial but last year was the first time he was unable to take an active role and he attended as a spectator.
His roles with the branch and the British Legion Club also included chairman, president, vice president and entertainment convener.
He also used to lay poppy crosses at the city’s Commonwealth War Graves as part of the Remembrance commemorations to honour those have died in conflict.
He and his wife, Jenny, were married for 63 years until her death in 2016. They had four children of whom three still survive. He also had four surviving grandchildren – he lost a grandson – and two great grandchildren.
His funeral service at Dalneigh Church and Inverness Crematorium was attended by members of the Inverness RBLS including standard bearers who lowered the flags in a final tribute.
Branch chairman Bart Lucas recalled Mr Dingwall's huge support for the RBLS and its work and said he was quite a modest man.
"He was an outstanding role model to other people, never mind his service and things he had done for the RBLS, " he said. "I had the greatest respect for him."
Mr Lucas described Mr Dingwall's record as a standard bearer, reaching a national level, as "quite remarkable" and said he had trained others to high standards.
Mourners were invited to give donations to Trinity Dalneigh Church Funds and Poppyscotland.
