was held in abeyance until the end of the war. In 1945 Pipe Major Alexander MacDonald who had just retired from service in the Scots Guards was chosen to fill the position. He had, like his predecessor, been Pipe Major in his Regiment but for a longer term - fourteen years. At the time of writing he still holds the appointment and wherever the Queen is in Residence, Alex MacDonald will be found in her household carrying out the duties of Piper to the Sovereign. (Details of his career appeared in The Piping Times, Vol. 16, No.8.)
In conclusion it is interesting to note that the late Pipe Major John MacDonald, MBE, was appointed honorary piper to King George V, King Edward VIM and King George VI, an honour which he greatly valued as a mark of successive sovereigns' interest in pipe music.
Roll of Pipers to the Sovereign

1843-1854 Angus Mackay (Raasay)
1855-1891 William Ross
1891-1910 James Campbell
(2nd Piper, 1883-1891)
1910-1941 Henry Forsyth
1945-1965 Alexander MacDonald
1965- Andrew Pitkeathley (A&SHdrs)

Extracts from the Royal Archives are by Gracious permission of Her Majesty the Queen.

CCF

COMBINED CADET FORCE
We are now into our second year as a CCF and most of our difficulties, administrative and practical, have been overcome. During this difficult period we have had expert assistance from Captain P. Jay and Sgts. Robertson and Ryan of the Army Youth Team, stationed in Stirling. The RAF Section have had Sqdn. Ldr. J. Honey and his two Flight Sgts. Morrice and Gillies. A firm basis has been set for our future training and we go from strength to strength.

ARMY SECTION
Throughout the year the programme has been varied and interesting. We operate in three sections: Recruits, who are now beginning to realise what all the training is about, and are an enthusiastic group; the Proficiency Section, who should take their certificate within the next week or two; and the RE Section, who have been fortunate enough to have had the expert and enthusiastic instruction of Sgt. Robertson of The Royal Engineers. This section is

now training in watermanship at Drip Road Camp, Stirling, instruction being given by Sgt. Simpson who replaced Sgt. Robertson when he was posted to Germany.
All cadets have now fired the Empire Test, thanks to Lieut. J. Deeley's hard work in the .22 range. We have an excellent Map Reading Course consisting of a number of question-and-answer books which Capt. J. Gardner, RAEC, has introduced to the cadets. This has taken the slog out of Map Reading and made it a game at which the cadet progresses at his own speed of learning and can actually see his progress.
During the Easter holidays, Corporals J. M. Fleming and J. G. Wrenn attended a leadership course run by Southern Command at Stamford PTA, Thetford. Cpl. Fleming was awarded an Above Average pass and Cpl. Wrenn, who had an accident and did not finish the course, was awarded an Average Pass.
Three cadets went to Cultybraggan for the Duke of Edinburgh Expedition Course. Two failed to complete the course and the third, A. R. Menzies, was unfortunate to be in a group which was so reduced that the assessors decided it would be dangerous for them to continue the expedition. The climatic conditions were particularly hazardous this year.
The Easter Camp at Rothiemurchus Ski Hut was very successful, and the seventeen cadets attending enjoyed it immensely. The first four days, when snow fell almost continually and it was a bit dangerous to go too far from the Hut as visibility was very low, ski instruction took place fifty yards from the Hut. This preliminary instruction, which was undisturbed by the various distractions one meets when ski-ing, was to benefit the cadets once they got onto the slopes proper. Once on the big slopes they found they could stop, turn, traverse, stay on the ski tow, and enjoy the long runs. We were particularly fortunate with our instructor S/Sgt. Norman Lloyd, who by example, encouragement, praise, organisation of small competitions, and by being a fair, friendly, but strict disciplinarian, brought a group of non-skiers to a standard of proficiency that had to be seen to be believed, especially that long snake formed by the group as they followed him from the top of the mountain to the bottom. Lieut. T. M. Wright devoted quite a bit of his time, and patience, to the less apt members who were quite content to use the lower tow. Fortunately he did manage at times to get in some decent runs, when his group tired and needed resting.
This term we have a very full programme. Capt. P. Jay and his youth team gave us a very interesting display of the various weapons used by the modern army. This was no static "stand still and look" effort: the display was on the Whitestone Range and the weapons were fired and some of the senior cadets had the opportunity to fire them.