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THE BLACK WATCH (2RHC) / LOVAT SCOTS CONCERT
CFB GAGETOWN 1968
by Lt-Col (Ret) George A. Fraser, MD, RCAMC, UMO 2RHC
On a Saturday evening in February 1968 a unique concert was presented to the community surrounding Base Gagetown. With the permission of Lieutenant- Colonel Harold J. Harkes, MC, CD Commanding Officer of Second Battalion, The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada (2RHC), the Pipes and Drums of the battalion joined with the Lovat Scots Pipe Band of Prince Edward Island to put on a joint concert at the theater at Base Gagetown.
The Medical Officer of 2 RHC, Captain George Fraser, had approached Lt-Col Harkes and suggested it would be an honour If his civilian pipe band from Prince Edward Island, comprised of students from PEI, Nova Scotia, and Quebec, could play a concert with the internationally famed Black Watch Pipes & Drums. The request was accepted, and the Lovat Scots were invited to Base Gagetown.
George had formed the Lovat Scots. The band was
named after the famous WW2 British commandos, the ‘Lovat Scouts’ led by Lord Lovat, chief of the Fraser Clan. Captain Fraser had taught most of the pipers during his university years in PEI and later while in medical school in Halifax. In 1967 the band was asked by Moosehead Breweries to represent that company in the many activities of the 100th anniversary of Canada. That year the band performed as the Moosehead Lovat Scots Pipe Band of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. The band performed parades across the Maritimes, New York City, and of course their special performances at Expo 67 in Montreal. Yet in spite of having spent a busy and exciting summer of Centennial Year performances, the chance to perform a joint concert with the famous Black Watch of Canada would become a special lifelong memory for the young band members. Indeed, it did!
After the Base Gagetown concert, the band next got together in August for their seventh annual summer school, the Highland College of PEI. This summer
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