A WORLD War II hero, who single-handedly tricked 23,000 German SS soldiers into surrendering, was delighted to sign copies of his autobiography in his home-town.
Sir Tommy Macpherson, the highest decorated living veteran from the war, was kept busy signing his book "Behind Enemy Lines" at Caberfeidh Horizons on Kingussie's High Street on Saturday.
The incredible wartime story of Sir Tommy (90) is to be serialised in the Daily Mail, and sold 1,000 copies on its first day when it was published.
It then went into a second edition two weeks after release and will be featured as part of a BBC4 documentary to broadcast in the New Year.
The official story of the legendary commando was untold for 65 years until Sir Tommy got together with Richard Bath to pen his memoirs.
The twice captured war hero was ordered by Churchill to "set Europe ablaze" and even mistaken for a woman by a French soldier when he parachuted into Germany wearing a kilt.
In one particular show of chutzpah, he drove 10 miles unarmed into enemy-held territory in Normandy in a stolen German Red Cross Land Rover dressed in full Highland attire with only a doctor and French soldier for company.
After dodging through a storm of machine-gun bullets, Sir Tommy warned the commanders of the feared SS Das Reich Panzer column he would call on the RAF to unleash heavy artillery if they did not surrender.
Incredibly the 23,000 soldiers laid down their arms and it is believed that his daring saved thousands of lives.
His military honours include three Croix de Guerre, a Legion d'honneur, which was presented to him by the late French President Charles de Gaulle, and a papal Knighthood.
After the book signing, Lady Jean Macpherson spoke on behalf of her husband, who now has limited speech due to a stroke he suffered.
"I don't know how many medals he has - he gets so many and they are sitting a in cupboard in the bedroom," she said. "But we are particularly proud that he had been invited to sign his book in Kingussie. It has given him a great deal of pleasure because it is his childhood home."
Chieftain of the Macpherson clan, Sir Tommy first served in the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders in the Territorial Army in 1939, when he was still in teens, before joining No 11 Scottish Commando a year later.
He was part of a four-man team sent to reconnoitre beaches in preparation for Operation Flipper, an attempted raid on the headquarters of Erwin Rommel, the famous German Field Marshal.
The men waited for a rendezvous with a submarine in a leaking boat for two nights before setting out on foot over land, clad only in shorts, with no water, food or maps.
The party was captured by Italian forces and Sir Tommy was interrogated by four army officers and six carabinieri.
One asked the Highlander to demonstrate how his Colt automatic worked, which he did so by putting in a spare magazine he still had and then held the Italians up with a loaded weapon.
His heroics were undone by a sudden bout of severe cramp, and on being recaptured he was placed in solitary confinement.
Lady Jean said her husband's self-confidence and daring nature came from a lifetime of self-reliance born of a childhood illness.
"He suffered from osteomyelitis from the ages of 12 to 14 and again from 16 to 17. He developed a lot of tenacity and determination because of the bone marrow disease," she said.
His determination and outgoing personality won him the heart of his wife, who had been engaged to someone else when they met.
"I was at a dance with Roger Bannister, and Tommy was already dead drunk," said Lady Jean. He stood on a table and showed off his legs, one of which had been shaved because of an injury.
"He was anxious for everyone to see the difference.
"It was when he stood up on a table that he looked down at me and my twin sister and said 'I'm going to marry that one.'
"I was engaged to someone else at the time and I don't suppose my fiancé took it too well."
At one point, Sir Tommy had a bounty of 300,000 Francs put on his head by German enemy forces.
He also managed to incur the wrath of communist dictator Tito, who made him a marked man for helping to stop Trieste ceding to Yugoslavia.
Carolyn Cornfield is the training and business development manager of Caberfeidh Horizons, which helps the disabled, those with special needs and the long-term unemployed to get on to the jobs ladder by providing work at their bookshop on the High Street.
She said they were delighted that a real-life Highland hero had accepted their invite to stage the book signing.
Mrs Cornfield said "We were absolutely delighted to welcome Lady Jean and Sir Tommy Macpherson to the Bookshop to share his astonishing story and promote his nationally acclaimed book."
Sir Tommy was born in Edinburgh on October 4, 1920, the son of the Rev Archibald Borland Cameron, a judge in the Indian courts.
When his family moved from Edinburgh to Newtonmore he became incredibly physically fit roaming the hills, and built up survival knowledge by training on the wild peak of Chailleach.
The youngest of seven, he and his older brother, Phil, set up a hide that was just three feet from a golden eagle nest above Loch Dubh on the Cluny Estate. The two of them would go in together and then just one would leave while the other lay stock still under cover for hours at a time.
Sir Tommy felt he lived in the shadow of Phil, who was captain of Scotland's 1925 Grand Slam-winning rugby side.
After WWII ended, Sir Tommy read politics, philosophy and economics at Trinity College, Oxford, taking home a First Class degree.
He enjoyed a stellar career in business, earning a knighthood for his services to British business and chairing the European Chamber of Commerce.
His career included being chairman or a director at institutions including Scottish Mutual Assurance, TSB Scotland, Birmid Qualcast, Société-Generale merchant bank and the National Coal Board.
Copies of the "Behind Enemy Lines", signed by Sir Tommy, are available from the Caberfeidh Bookshop at £17.99.
