World War II veteran, Major Tom Renouf visited Loretto School recently, planting the last cross in The Loretto Field of Remembrance in honour of his late Divisional Commander, Tom Rennie OL.
Major Renouf had served with distinction during the Second World War. As an officer in the Black Watch he fought in Normandy, Holland, the Ardennes and was one of the first to cross the Rhine.
Major Renouf also shared the experiences of being on the front line.The highlight of the talk was when he brought out Himmler’s watch which had come into his possession when he and other members of the 51st Highland Division has captured Hitler’s notorious head of the SS at the end of the war.
The hands of time are stuck at 5.40, the leather strap is long gone and the watch Tom Renouf keeps tucked inside a small brown box lined with cream satin appears just an unremarkable, old, broken timepiece.
It hasn't worked since 1946. "I used to wear it," he says with a shrug of indifference. "Then I dropped it on a marble floor. Took it to a couple of local watchmakers for repair but they didn't have the spare parts. Shame. The Germans made very good watches."
In fact, so efficient was this one that it once adorned the wrist of one of the Nazi regime's most infamous and vilest figures. Brutal beyond belief, vicious and callous, Heinrich Himmler was the driving force behind the Nazi's loathsome Gestapo, the architect of the horrific concentration camps and the man upon whose ruthless orders millions of people perished.
And his Etanche German Army issue watch, barely an inch in diameter and with its golden numerals now slightly tarnished, had a particular and undeniably sinister significance. After all, Himmler is the man infamously credited with being so precise about his murderous task that he made certain the concentration camp trains loaded with their tragic cargo ran right on time . . .
Major Renouf rounded off his visit by presented 12 year old Lucy Buchanan-Smith with a copy of his book.
Jonathan Hewat, Director of External Affairs at Loretto School said, “Major Tom Renouf is an inspiration to our pupils. His visit was most moving and he has the uncanny ability to bring history to life.”