Pipe Band

25th Battalion (Nova Scotia Rifles)

France

1918

Pte. John McKinnon is seated in the middle row, second from the right.

Seated in the middle row behind the large bass drum is Pipe Major John "Jock" Carson who was originally from Greenock, Scotland. He joined the 25th Battalion on January 19, 1915, in Halifax, and was appointed pipe major of the pipe band, a position he maintained for the duration of the war.

While overseas, the pipe band adopted a goat which became the battalion mascot. He was called Robert the Bruce. He is in the front centre of the photo. Robert the Bruce accompanied the battalion home in 1919 and retired to a farm in Cape Breton that belonged to one of the battalion's men.

Photographer:  Unknown
Ref. Number:  18-3 (1.2)
Image Information:  Received as electronic file
Source:  Janet Towse, Bristol, New Hampshire