Francis Henderson Coutts was born in Glasgow on 8 Jul 1918, the son of Rev Jack Coutts, Presbyterian minister. Frank Coutts, as he was always known, was educated at Glasgow Academy from 1926 to 1936 where he played rugby almost every day, and learned to play the bagpipes. He then spent a year in Canada staying with his uncle, and came back to be a London policeman for almost three years until war broke out.
His military career began as a Territorial in the London Scottish, but in June 1941 he was selected for a 3 month officer cadet training course and was commissioned into the 4th Battalion King’s Own Scottish Borderers which was in the 52nd Lowland Division. This Division went into action on Walcheran island, Netherlands, landing at Flushing on 1 Nov 1944. Coutts commanded an anti-tank platoon in the amphibious assault. They fought against stiff German defences on the Scheldt, sustaining heavy casualties. Key positions were captured and they drove the enemy back to Bremen in April 1945.
After the war he took up a regular commission, and in Scotland was posted to various locations on the Borders training National Service recruits. His posting to Edinburgh Castle included developing the Military Tattoo. He also played rugby for the Glasgow Academicals RFC and the Army. He held staff posts in Cyprus and Germany, and in 1956 commanded D Company 1KOSB in the Gurkha Brigade, operating against communist insurgents in Malaya. By 1962 he was a lieutenant-colonel on the staff in Singapore and then Borneo until 1964.
In the 1960s and 70s he held senior commands in Scotland and was appointed Colonel of the KOSB in 1970. He retired from the army in 1973 with the rank of brigadier. He was joint general secretary of the Royal British Legion Scotland and the Earl Haig Fund, up until 1983. He was an Elder in the Church of Scotland, and wrote two books, one of which was One Blue Bonnet: A Scottish Soldier Looks Back (1991).
On 24 July 1948 Frank married Morag Fullerton following a blind date in Piccadilly Circus, although they were both from Glasgow. They had two daughters, Fiona and Sheena. Morag died in 2004 and Frank died on 20 October 2008 at the Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh.
