AN ARMY Major who was brought up in Kilwinning has passed away at the age of 87.

Major Campbell Graham (QM) OBE MBE, who served in the Scots Guards, moved to Kilwinning to stay with his grandmother at the age of four, along with his father, Robert Graham and his sister Pat, from Luton where he was born.

In his teens, growing up in the Blacklands area, he delivered bread in the area for Morrisons and Molanda, and then worked as a stevedore at Ardrossan Harbour.

At the age of 17, he decided to join the Scots Guards in July 1945, just as the Second World War was coming to an end.

He was trained at the Guards Depot before being posted to Trieste in Italy the following year and to Malaya in 1950.

Major Graham then completed three separate tours with the British Army of the Rhine, a posting to the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst as a college sergeant major.

One of the young officers he trained was the future King Hussein of Jordan.

By 1963, he was the Brigade of Guards’ youngest regimental sergeant major and was based with the 2nd Battalion in Nairobi, Kenya.

During his spell in Africa, Major Graham found two tiny lion cubs alone in a back garden and decided to take them back to his camp.

The regiment cared for the cubs and named them Unita and Fortior, after the battalion’s motto.

As they grew up, the animals were so tame that they could wander through the mess without any danger.

Graham initially hoped to train the cubs as mascots to accompany the regiment on guards duties at Buckingham Palace but that plan was rejected.

Shortly afterwards, the cubs went on to star in the film Born Free, the story of Kenyan couple George and Joy Adamson who raised an orphaned lion cub to adulthood and then returned her to the wild.

After returning from Kenya, Graham rose through the ranks from lieutenant to captain and then finally Major Quartermaster.

He served as Captain Quartermaster in the 1st Battalion Scots Guards in Belfast and then as district officer of physical training at Horse Guards in London, where he was the head of all sport for the district and was awarded an MBE for his service.

Major Graham finished his army career in 1982 as the regimental recruiting officer at Edinburgh Castle and arena marshal at the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo where he ensured the cleaners stood to attention and refused to allow spectators to leave until the national anthem had finished.

He made a huge impact at the tattoo in more ways than one as one year he was lowered down from a helicopter onto Edinburgh Castle in full regalia with his underpants having the words, “Join the Scots Guards” emblazoned on them.

According to former fellow officer, Colour Sergeant Tam Lindsay, this typifies the character of Major Graham.

He said: “He was a very fair man and didn’t care about who you were or how esteemed the person was he was speaking to, they would be treated the same as anyone else. He also always kept an eye out for anyone that may have been struggling in the group and would make sure they were guided through and supported.

“That showed him for what he was, an outstanding man. What he achieved from the background he came from was exceptional and will always be remembered throughout all of the British Army.” Once he retired from the army in 1982, he took on the role as manager of Lady Haig’s Poppy Factory in Edinburgh.

Graham spent 12 years there and in 1994 was awarded an OBE for services to disabled ex-service personnel.

Once he fully retired from all work, he continued to play a big role in the British Legion Parade every November.

On April 3, 2015, Major Graham passed away in Edinburgh.

He is survived by his wife Judith, son Gavin, daughter Philippa and two grandchildren.