SCOTLAND’S OLDEST soldier Alfred Anderson has backed the fight to save his former regiment The Black Watch.

The 108-year-old from Alyth served with the regiment in the first world war before being sent home from the trenches when he was wounded.

Yesterday his daughter Chrissie Maxwell said her father had been watching the defence shake-up with interest.

“He is very aware of what is going on and hopes that The Black Watch can be saved,” she said, adding that her father was proud of his links to the regiment.

During his service Mr Anderson served as batman to Fergus Bowes-Lyon, the Queen Mother’s brother, who was killed at the Battle of Loos in 1915.

That connection led to a meeting with Prince Charles earlier this year when he came to Perth in his role as Colonel-in-Chief of the regiment.

The pair met at Balhousie Castle where regimental gates commissioned in memory of the Queen Mother were unveiled.

Mr Anderson, who celebrated his birthday last month, received the Legion d’Honneur in 1998 from the French government.