Page 140 - RSDG Year of 2022 CREST

148 EAGLE AND CARBINE
was “successfully”. As a boy Ben had been a runner. In his forties, he returned to his running. He ran various half-marathons and in 1983 at the age of 45 he ran the London Marathon in aid of Glenrothes Hospital.
Ben was promoted to Assistant Principal Teacher with responsibility for the school library and when Ballingry Junior High closed, he was offered the position of APT English at Lochgelly High where he worked until he retired from full-time teaching in 1998. He and his first wife divorced. In 1994 Ben married Mari. Their travels included visits to Mari’s family in former Yugoslavia.
In 2000, Ben was given an address for Nan, his birth mother. Unfortunately, Nan had died in 1996, but he was finally able to make contact with his siblings, Brian and Pat, and their wider family.
In his late fifties, Ben took up karate at Kelty Shotokan Karate Club. At the age of 58, he came third in the Senior Gents’ Kata in the 1996 Scottish Shotokan Association championships. After he developed
Arthur Kendall
Arthur Kendall was born in 1941 in Leith, the son of printing machine plater Douglas Kendall and his wife Georgina on After being educated locally, Arthur began an apprenticeship as a cooper, making barrels for the spirits and beer industries. Aged 16, he joined the Territorial Army and qualified as a parachutist with
the Parachute Regiment.
Arthur took to army life and subsequently signed up as a regular, serving with the Royal Scots Greys, a regiment he was immensely proud to be a member of. He trained as a tank driver and tank commander serving in Hong Kong, Germany, and Edinburgh. When the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards was formed in 1971, Arthur transferred to the 9th/12th Lancers and was posted to Germany and did several tours to Northern Ireland.
Arthur retired from regular army life in 1978 and spent a couple of years working with Securicor before joining the roads department of West Lothian Council as a roads superintendent. He later transferred to Tayside as a roads superintendent and lived in the Perth/Bridge of Earn area.
angina, Ben’s training was put on hold until he received a stent bypass. He returned to his beloved karate club, was awarded his black belt at the age of 64 and used his teaching skills to instruct junior members of the club.
At 70 he began to suffer from more heart problems. A year later, he had a successful triple graft bypass via open heart surgery. However, in 2013 he had a stroke which left him unable to sit up but, after nearly four months, he walked out of hospital with the support of a stick. Unfortunately, he could no longer play his instruments, but he took pleasure in continue to sing at home. He also started learning Serbian in order to communicate with Mari’s family. In 2018, Mari retired, allowing the couple to spend more time together.
In September 2020 Ben was hospitalised but, after being stabilized, was discharged. He suffered a fatal heart attack at home and died on 5 January 2021.
He is survived by his children, Scott and Fiona (both from his first marriage), his granddaughter Tamsin and his wife Mari.
Arthur also devoted 30 years to the development of young people in the Army Cadet Force, first attached to Perth Academy, then to the Kinross and Blairgowrie detachments of the Black Watch Battalion of the Army Cadet Force and retired as an Honorary Captain aged 70. Arthur was also a member of the Order of Str John and his commitment to young people was recognised in 2013 when he was awarded the Order of St John’s St Andrew’s Medal. He also worked closely with police on numerous projects to support young people recognising their leadership potential and provide them with character-building skills. In his younger years, Arthur had also been a boxing referee and a judge/instructor with the National Small-Bore Rifle Association.
His son, Martin said: “My father was tireless in his work on behalf of the cadets and was immensely proud of his service to Queen and country. He enjoyed his own army career and told of how, when he was in the Royal Scots Greys, he beat a young troop commander called Ranulph Fiennes in a regimental boxing match.”
In his leisure time, Arthur made garden windmills, leather purses and bags and latterly made blue and yellow key fobs in support of Ukraine, which he handed out to friends.
He died on 15 October 2022 aged 81.