Background
Borthwick was born in Rutherglen but raised in Troon and later Glasgow where he attended Glasgow High School and was a member of the school's Officer Training Corps.
(First published in 1939, Always a Little Further quickly ...)
First published in 1939, Always a Little Further quickly established itself as a Scottish climbing classic. In portraying a group of rank-and-file climbers from Glasgow who sought merely to enjoy the freedom of the mountains and the fellowship of shared experience, it presents a very different view of mountaineering than is found in many more 'serious' books on the subject. From early beginnings in Arrochar and on Skye the group graduate to bigger things around Glencoe and Ben Nevis. The climbing merely provides the background to the story and it is the travelling, the characters and the colourful life of road, campsite and bothy that form the main focus of attention. There are stories about motor-cyclists, hitch-hikers, berry-pickers, bird-watchers and 'gangrels of all sorts'. The bizarre characters and events are entertainingly described and a 'rollicking humour' runs through the narrative. These are light-hearted tales, filled with the enthusiasm of carefree youth and displaying a genuine love of the Scottish hills. For this reason Always a Little Further is rightly regarded as a classic reflecting an aspect of mountaineering life hardly touched in other accounts.
https://www.amazon.com/Always-little-further-Alastair-Borthwick/dp/B0007K7JI4
1939
(Alastair Borthwick's Battalion is the widely acclaimed st...)
Alastair Borthwick's Battalion is the widely acclaimed story of a British Army infantry unit in the Second World War. Written in Germany just after VE Day, Battalion captures the immediate memories of troops at war. It gives the soldier's view of events, avoiding moralising or sensationalism, and making full use of first-hand accounts of battles. The result is a sharp depiction of war and of the extraordinary circumstances in which the soldiers frequently found themselves. The book is notable for the sheer amount of front line action. The planning and execution of battles is minutely described, and the lot of the ordinary soldier is related with humour and immediacy. It is a tale of remarkable courage and application to duty. It records in detail a period of history, reflecting the experiences of many Allied infantrymen and providing a unique testament to the trials and tribulations of conflict. The battalion in question is the 5th Seaforth Highlanders of the 51st (Highland) Division. Alastair Borthwick joined the battalion in 1943, as the soldiers fought a series of desert battles to push the German Army out of North Africa. They then took part in the conquest of Sicily and later, following behind the D-Day landings, advanced into Germany, fighting several vicious battles in the final days of the war. 'An outstanding book' Max Hastings, Daily Telegraph
https://www.amazon.com/Battalion-British-infantry-actions-1942-1945-ebook/dp/B00R88T3NW/?tag=2022091-20
1946
https://www.amazon.com/Yarrows-First-Hundred-Alastair-Borthwick/dp/B00IJA3QRC
Borthwick was born in Rutherglen but raised in Troon and later Glasgow where he attended Glasgow High School and was a member of the school's Officer Training Corps.
Alastair Borthwick grew up in Troon, Ayrshire, before he moved to Glasgow in 1924 at the age of 11. There, he attended Glasgow High School and was a member of the school's Officer Training Corps until he left in 1929 at the age of 16 to work on the Evening Times. He eventually graduated from the Evening Times to further his trade at the Glasgow Weekly Herald.
He left school at the age of sixteen to become a copytaker for the Evening Times. It was through writing for the Herald's "Open Air" page that he discovered rock climbing, an activity which had traditionally been the preserve of the well off, but was becoming increasingly popular with young, working-class Glaswegians. The nascent subculture of poor but resourceful people hitchhiking north, camping or "dossing" in caves and bothies became the mainstay of his Open Air columns, and later his first book, Always a Little Further, which was published in 1939.
The book documented this social change, which Ken Wilson described as "...as if a group of East Enders had suddenly decided to take up grouse-shooting or polo," with accounts of encounters with tramps, tinkers and hawkers, and of hitching to Ben Nevis in a lorry full of dead sheep, all described in Borthwick's humorous style. It became a classic and has never been out of print since its publication. During the Second World War Borthwick served with a variety of British Army units in North Africa, Sicily and Western Europe.
Initially he served as a private in the Highland Light Infantry, but due to his OTC experience was to have been commissioned as a second lieutenant on 2 September 1939. However, for some reason this commission was cancelled and in the end he was not commissioned until 3 November 1941, by which time he was a lance-corporal. He worked mainly as a Battalion Intelligence Officer and reached the rank of captain.
He transferred to the Reconnaissance Corps on 14 January 1941, having by then being promoted to war substantive lieutenant. He transferred to the 5th Seaforth Highlanders on 13 October 1944. His most significant feat came in the Netherlands towards the end of the War, when he led a battalion of 600 men behind enemy lines in the dark, relying on his sense of direction as the maps were inaccurate.
The Germans woke up the next morning to find the British dug in behind them. After the War, Borthwick wrote his second book, Sans Peur (republished as Battalion in 1994), which was a history of his regiment during the second half of the war. Unlike many regimental histories written by committees or retired generals, it was written from the perspective of a junior officer who fought on the front line, and was highly acclaimed.
For the rest of his career Borthwick worked mainly as a television and radio broadcaster, writing and presenting programs on subjects from Joseph McCarthy to Bonnie Prince Charlie. He regarded Scottish Soldier as his best work from this period. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1952 New Year Honours for his part in organizing an engineering exhibition as part of the Festival of Britain.
(Alastair Borthwick's Battalion is the widely acclaimed st...)
1946(First published in 1939, Always a Little Further quickly ...)
1939It was a thirteen part series about the history of the Scottish regiments, told from the point of view of the infantryman.
Quotes from others about the person
His producer, James Fergusson, wrote of him later that: "I saw him in the studio treating the microphone like an old friend, chatting away, waving his arms about, and I knew this was how it was done."
