Willie McRae

Willie McRae was a hero. Scotland could have gained independence much sooner if he'd lived. His death was a botched assassination.

When he saw the car accelerate up behind him as he came out from the bend he must have thought they were going to overtake on the straight. They side-swiped him off the road, a fraction too soon. Instead of going across the small plateau, where his cairn stands, and plunging over the steep drop, his car rolled downhill and landed upright. He was alive, but it was about to get much worse. A .22 bullet in the brain sealed his fate, though he was still barely alive when he was found many hours later.

The gun was an 1860's, pearl handled, engraved Smith and Wesson. So worn out the cylinder had to be turned by hand. Presumably chosen to imply he was an impractical dandy who couldn't get his hands on a more adequate weapon. When I lived in the West Highlands, a few years before Willie was killed, I was offered an unregistered rifle, I was present when a 9mm Beretta was confiscated by very friendly and laid back constables, my boat was later used to take a stash of ammunition out to be dumped in Loch Kishorn. If a teenage English nobody saw this then surely Willie McRae, with all his contacts, could easily have armed himself with something better.

So who said it was his gun? www.whatdotheyknow.com... The partner in his law firm, Ronald Welsh. And how reliable is Ronald Welsh? news.google.com... "The tribunal said Mr Welsh's complete neglect in the affairs of his clients and others consulting him, his total disregard of the established procedures, and his inexcusable failure to reply to correspondence over a lengthy period displayed conduct wholly unbefitting that of a solicitor. The only proper course open to the tribunal was that Mr Welsh be struck off the roll of solicitors." That was in December 1987. Sounds like Ronald Welsh completely fell apart after the death of Willie McRae. I can't take his word as proof the gun was really Willie's. And if it was it seems more likely it was held as a collectors piece, not a user.

This link contains the most information I've found in one place. www.whatdotheyknow.com... Thank you Andy Muirhead.

If you want clarification on the rumours that Willie was shot twice, this is as far as you'll get. www.whatdotheyknow.com...

Willie was fighting against the dumping of nuclear waste. Willie knew how much the oil was worth. Willie could have led the SNP.

Here's one more link before I throw this to the wolves. www.express.co.uk...

THE last person to have seen an SNP stalwart at the centre of a 25-year death riddle yesterday said he is prepared to sign an affidavit claiming the activist was likely murdered by the Security Services.

Mr Morrison, who was attached to “A” Division in Glasgow and served for 27 years, said he was told by senior officers that McRae was “under surveillance” by men in dark cars. He told the Sunday Express he can describe the individuals in detail and said, as the last person to speak to the lawyer alive, there is “no way” he would have gone on to commit suicide.

Mr Morrison, now 69 and living in Aberdeenshire, said: “We were told, ‘Stay away from Bath Street,’ which is where Willie McRae’s property was, and told he was under surveillance by Special Branch and MI5. There were two people watching him and I could tell by their body language they were up to something."

"One was a man in his mid-30s, though he had grey hair, with a light blue suit on. He was folding his arms looking at Willie and he was clearly concerned that I was there. I would be prepared to sign an affidavit on this, so clear is it in my mind even to this day.”

a reply to: Kester

Excellent thread, Kester! I'll try and add some more later, when I've got some time. This is a shocking story and is well worth remembering.

S&F

Beat me to it Kester...was trying to gather more information on the Willie McRae story. never got far.
Star and Flag for you efforts.

Certainly another twist in the tale of Scottish independence. before i read your thread in it's entirety i wonder have you heard anything of the story of the two alleged SNLA guys who were found slumped at the wheel in the same circumstances as willie, bullet behind the ear.?

i heard this story in the mid 80's so far i havn't been able to find anything on it. that's why i was holding off on making the thread. it was reported at the time as a Car accident, but the whispers did the rounds of something a bit more sinister to the story.

a reply to: Kester

The amount of people that shoot themselves in the head twice is unbelievable these days Gordon hamilton /willie macrae and some chap who wrote a book on coc-aine smuggling on the Bushe's .

It is a road i travelled often the kishorn road and i know we will know people in common were you a commando !
and what you say about fire arms is true ,there are rambo's in the hills not the type that do a jonestown .

it was common knowlage that Macrae was nocked off and what was getting dumped in the sea of dounreay i worked there too

a reply to: douglas5

Not a commando, I was a gardener for the amazing Mrs Marks at Courthill House. exceptthekylesandwesternisles.blogspot.co.uk... It tears me apart to see the photograph of how it was in 1931. That's what she wanted to restore it to. She paid a skilled carpenter to cut up the floor of the squash court with a chainsaw and nail it together as a meditation hut in front of the remains of the water garden. He complained bitterly about the sacrilege. He wanted to dismantle the floor carefully and build her a fine little hut but her word was law.

She tried to do the entire garden zen style with only one tool, a heavy hoe. She was wonderful, but very difficult. Whenever a council official tried to tell her she couldn't live in the stables she'd just talk back to them in a selection of different languages.

Just for the record if I ever decide to kill myself I'll shoot myself in the head three times. That way there won't be any confusion.

a reply to: Kester


If I ever decide to kill myself I'll shoot myself in the head three times. That way there won't be any confusion.


so you have a automatic then

i know that part of the world well used to work at www.google.co.uk...

i know what you mean about eccentric people ps my granmother was a murry from up that part's ?

Strangly enough its shaded on maps. Carntyne railway sidings (Disused sidings)

"If you want to know just how close are some of the more mysterious military assets in Scotland to major centers of population, get the train from Fort William to Glasgow Queen Street and when the train is a few miles out from Glasgow, look to the left (east) of the train – and if my bearings weren't completely shonky, you’re looking for something called ‘Greenfield Wood’ on your Browser"

www.disclose.tv/forum/willie-macrae-murder.


Mullwhacher inquiry !

a reply to: Kester

Here we have more on Willie. animalliberationfront.com... The description of the pistol is not what we see in the police photographs.

...a pearl handled butt which was curved where you held it. I mean that the bottom of the butt was smooth and curved or rounded so that it fitted into your hand. The shape of the butt was very distinctive.

If this is the description of a pistol Willie kept in his office and the police photographs show a squared off butt then something isn't right. Did they get a close approximation going on a description of his gun? And who would keep a loaded revolver close at hand with the revolving action so worn the chamber had to be turned by hand?

Muddy waters.

a reply to: Kester

I could more easily imagine Willie having such a gun. Easily pocketable and I'd guess in better working order.

a reply to: Kester
It was reported as a Smith and Weston 45 (9mm ?).
And the entry wound was not discovered until he was being washed.

Someones getting confused the autopsy states .22 calibure entry wound.

Reminds me off the old Russian bear umbrella gun.

And why does Dr Kelly keep popping into my head.

a reply to: Kester

The Chief Constable, Leslie Sharp, it is claimed, was alarmed by the publication of the extracts from Dinsmore's precognitions which linked Willie McRae to the SNLA, and by the publication of the detailed information Dinsmore provided about the Special Branch vehicles and the surveillance of McRae.

Now we're back onto Leslie Sharp, the Chief Constable who interviewed under caution Assistant Chief Constable Walter Jackson who was in charge of Hillsborough. It's a small world.

a reply to: foxhound2459

The water's so muddy you could stand a canoe paddle upright in it.

Poor old Kelly. It's been suggested the ulnar artery cut was to disguise the injection mark.

a reply to: Kester

More from Donald Morrison.

"The more I think about it, the more it stinks of murder."

Donald, who was in the force for 28 years, told us how he'd been on the beat in Glasgow city centre when he spotted McRae. He added: "He was full of the joys of spring, coming out of the off-licence with a bottle of whisky in each hand."

I joked, 'Excuse me, sir, would you like to blow into this bag' because he was heading towards his car. "He told me, 'You're only jealous. I'm going to Kintail tonight and I'll be drinking with my feet up in front of a log fire'.

"I helped him do a U-turn in the traffic but, while I was doing that, I got the feeling someone was watching me. When I looked over my shoulder I saw two suspicious-looking men eyeing what we were doing. "I don't think Willie saw them. Minutes later he drove off.

"Suddenly I saw two cars pull out nearby, very quickly, as if they were in a rush to catch him up. And when I looked around, the two men had vanished."

Just hours later, on Saturday April 6, 1985, an Australian tourist found McRae on a remote stretch of the A87 in Inverness-shire. He hadn't made it to his holiday home in nearby Kintail...

And last night Donald told us: "I am not convinced that the verdict of suicide was the right one."

The 61-year-old, who now lives in Portknockie, Morayshire, added: "I hope that, someday, justice will be done for poor Willie McRae.""

a reply to: Kester

Interesting version here. He rolled his car down a hillside at speed and still managed to produce his not readily pocketable, flat butted, malfunctioning revolver, test fired it then gave up the ghost.

1) That McRae was known to the police to be involved in SNLA activities, and was being connected to Dinsmore and Busby;

2) That police believed that McRae would lead them to Busby and Dinsmore who, in April 1985, police still expected to attempt a secret return to Scotland;

3) That Willie McRae was kept under constant surveillance;

4) That McRae was under surveillance on the night that he died;

5) That McRae confronted two Special Branch officers who were following him and attempted to run them off the road;

6) That McRae's car crashed off the road during the confrontation;

7) That when officers attempted to reach McRae to arrest him, McRae fired two shots - one of which was a warning shot or a test shot - and the second shot he directed into his own head;

8) That, in pitch darkness, police reached McRae's vehicle, removed and discarded the pistol, and examined McRae who they believed to be dead or beyond medical assistance;

9) That, given the sensitivity of the situation, the officers left the scene, and attempted to report the situation to their own superiors in Scotland in Scottish Special Branch HQ in Pitt Street, Glasgow;

10) They were not immediately successful in contacting their superiors, and the chain of command was not fully aware of the situation until hours had passed;

11) That, eventually, a decision was taken at the highest level to disassociate the police from the death of McRae;

12) That there was no genuine investigation of McRae's death. It was deemed unnecessary as police witnesses could confirm that it was suicide;

13) That only the closest members of his family and some of his political colleagues were informed that the circumstances of McRae's death were dishonorable;

14) That a political decision was taken at the highest level not to hold a Fatal Accident Inquiry in order to avoid a political and police scandal, and not to spare the family's feelings.

This version of events was told to me in confidence by a source who was involved in the McRae case. He certainly believes it to be true. It certainly fits all the known facts.

But is it true?

As an American, the first time I heard of Willie McRae was from the band Oi Polloi. They're a Scottish anarcho band and they sing about politics a lot.

a reply to: Kester

When informed by police at the roadblock that there were reports of the possibility of a bomb in the area ("Observer", Scottish edition, 19th April, 1992), the Army convoy put their standard evacuation procedures into effect, and the artillery convoy exited the area at maximum speed � a move which sent them hurtling at top speed towards the oncoming police and SnG convoy.

The Army convoy swept past the memorial cairn at top speed, which is located beside a stretch of the A87 road, and smashed straight into the first of the oncoming Siol nan Gaidheal cars.

One of the car's occupants, Kevin Collison, a young SnG member from Edinburgh, was killed outright in the crash.

RIP Kevin. Killed tragically beside the cairn that Willie didn't want.

As a hard-headed cynic, Willie McRae had left strict instructions in his will that he wanted no funeral service, no tombstone, no inscription, no plaque, and no permanent memorial of any kind. Nor did McRae wish any form of commemoration after his death.

I'm beginning to understand why Google maps shows a ditch dug in front of the cairn to stop people parking there.

a reply to: Yeahkeepwatchingme

Thread linked in vid comments.

A little known quote from Willie.
"AND NO FLIPPIN PUNK SONGS NEITHER! Sigh! Who listens."

a reply to: douglas5

Abu Nidal did it 5 times in Iraq,must have been a HORRIBLE shot...

a reply to: Kester

This is an angle I'm coming across now.

Arnold Kemp the journalist wrote an article quite recently in which he mentioned the SNLA and Willie McRae in the same piece.

In a later article Kemp revealed that he had received a letter from Alex Salmond of the SNP taking him to task for mentioning Willie McRae's name together with that of the SNLA in the original article.

Willie was too hardcore for the 'nicer' politicians.

It's all about perception management. We're meant to be nice, tactful and peaceful. Meanwhile nuclear waste gets dumped, oil money is piped away and squandered, those with the willingness to risk their lives in the armed forces are sent off to disastrous foreign wars.

I'll stand beside the Willie McRae's of this world. And if he really asked for no memorials I'll stop building that thirty foot cairn in my back garden.

originally posted by: Soloprotocol
...heard anything of the story of the two alleged SNLA guys who were found slumped at the wheel in the same circumstances as willie, bullet behind the ear.?

No, but I recommend all drivers read this book several times till it's second nature. www.amazon.co.uk... www.roadcraft.co.uk... It will make you more aware and if you have to take evasive action you'll have a better chance.