Interviews of Jim Logan

In this interview, Jim Logan (b. 1917) talks about his childhood, WW2 service and working life in East Lothian. Jim was the eldest of 8 children and was born at Prova Farm, near Drem. His family moved across a number of farms in East Lothian and many of the recollections from Jim relate to Gladshot Farm on the Pencaitland road.

Jim left school at 13 ½, to the annoyance of his teacher as he had recently won a school prize, so that he could begin to contribute to the family resources. One of his early jobs on the farm was to go around the strawberry fields, scaring the birds with clappers. Jim loved living at Gladshot and to be at work, and busy. He recalls the home at Gladshot, which was re-built by the farmer to accommodate the large Logan family. Even so, with a family of ten, his parents slept in the kitchen and the children in the two bedrooms.

Jim describes life on the farm and recalls the regular visits from a man from Spittalrig to slaughter one of his father’s pigs so that the family could have the meat. Around the age of 16, Jim got a job with the Haddington co-operative and served his apprenticeship as a butcher. He enjoyed this work and returned to it after his war service.

Jim also talks about being called up for National Service on 2 January 1940. He speaks about his initial journey to Edinburgh and his subsequent training and deployment in Algeria, North Africa and Italy. He was in Italy at the end of the war and remained there for about a year. He recalls some of his wartime experiences and, although the army were keen for him to stay on, he determined to return to Scotland where he resumed his work with the co-operative. Towards the end of the interview, Jim talks about the tram service which once ran from Edinburgh out to the holiday park at Port Seton.