David Rollo (July 1919 – 18 September 2006) was a Scottish nationalist political activist. Born in Springburn, North Glasgow,"David Rollo - the quiet patriot", '' Scots Independent'', November 2006 Rollo studied at Lenzie Academy''The Times House of Commons 1959'', p.209 and played for Lenzie Rugby Club. During World War II, he joined the

Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME ) is a corps of the British Army that maintains the equipment that the Army uses. The corps is described as the "British Army's Professional Engineers". History Prior to REME's for ...

attached to the 6th Airborne Division, and rose to become a sergeant, completing more than fifty parachute jumps. In 1947, he gained admittance to the University of Glasgow to study

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

and, although his time was interrupted by a year recuperating from tuberculosis, he eventually graduated BSc and spent the remainder of his career in the industry. Rollo joined the

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...

(SNP) and was elected as its treasurer in 1953/4, serving until 1967. This was a difficult time for the party's finances, and he often used his personal funds to pay the office secretary. Believing that the BBC was biased against Scottish nationalism, Rollo used his electrical engineering experience worked with Alvaro Rossi to build a radio transmitter which broadcast sound on the

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...

frequency. In 1956, they used this to launch "

Radio Free Scotland Between 1956 and 1965 Radio Free Scotland (RFS) broadcast through the PAL audio channel of BBC television (then on VHF) after ''God Save the Queen'' finished in the evening, and, later on, on 262 metres medium wave on the radio. The station was t ...

", based in Rollo's home town of

Kirkintilloch Kirkintilloch (; sco, Kirkintulloch; gd, Cair Cheann Tulaich) is a town and former barony burgh in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It lies on the Forth and Clyde Canal and on the south side of Strathkelvin, about northeast of central Glasgow. ...

. It broadcast a mix of political comedy and patriotic music after the BBC finished at 11pm. Rollo stood for the party at the 1959 general election in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

, by which time he was head of the SNP's broadcasting committee. After the SNP was not given the opportunity to make an election broadcast, he used the radio station to make party political broadcasts to

,Kenneth Roy, ''The Invisible Spirit: A Life of Post-War Scotland 1945-75'' He stood but his campaign was ultimately unsuccessful, taking only 6.2% of the vote. The radio was considered a success, and he built a similar transmitter for Plaid Cymru to use for "Radio Free Wales". Rollo stood again for the SNP in Glasgow Woodside at the 1970 general election, taking 8.4% of the vote, then in Paisley at the

February February is the second month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The month has 28 days in common years or 29 in leap years, with the 29th day being called the ''leap day''. It is the first of five months not to have 31 days (th ...

, October 1974 general elections, achieving 21% and then 33% of the vote, although he was not elected. He stood a final time in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, but his vote share fell to 15.7%. Rollo remained active in the SNP, and in 2004 published ''Lockerbie: a bum rap?'', exploring questions around the Lockerbie disaster."Lockerbie: a bum rap?", ''Airways: A Global Review of Commercial Flight'', Vol. 9, pp.12, 67

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rollo, David 1919 births 2006 deaths Alumni of the University of Glasgow Electrical engineers People educated at Lenzie Academy People from Lenzie Pirate radio personalities Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers soldiers Scottish National Party politicians British Army personnel of World War II