109551: Archibald Macphee

Archibald from Nunton, Benbecula was a piper. When he was 17 years old he won a piping competition in Uist. As a result of that he was employed as the Marquess of Bute’s personal piper in Edinburgh. He accompanied the Marquess on his travels and one of his duties was to play the pipes for him each morning.

On the outbreak of the Second World War, Archibald was called up and served in the Royal Navy as a radio operator. After the war, he was employed by the Civil Aviation. In 1947, he was posted to Mangersta, Uig, where he was employed first as a radio operator and then a technician. It was there he met Maribel Morrison, 8 Mangersta where they settled after their marriage in 1959. They had three children.

The family left Uig in 1978, when the CAA automated the Mangersta station and Archibald’s work was transferred to Stornoway Airport.