Despite having passed away in 2003, Alastair Borthwick is yet to be forgotten. He remains a well known and loved writer in Scotland due to his unique style in writing and sense of humor. His service and contribution to World War II are also still remembered. His birthplace is Troon in Ayrshire where he stayed till he was 11 before moving to Glasgow. He dropped out of high school at age 16 and worked as a copytaker for the Evening Times. After a while, he graduated to Glasgow Weekly Herald where he did some activities due to the shortness of staff members. He heard about mountaineering from the newspapers page and became a diehard fan. He wrote most of his experiences while mountaineering in the paper.
After working for Daily Mirror in London, Alastair joined BBC and began his career as a Broadcaster. This was after narrating about his experiences mountaineering and hill climbing in a BBC interview. He was passionate about mountaineering and discussed this in his broadcast. His listeners hit it off with him immediately and saw him as extremely talented. When the war against the Germans arose, he enrolled for it. He was to use the skills he acquired mountaineering. Alastair served many units in Western Europe and North Africa as a private. He was promoted to the second lieutenant and later lance corporal through hard work. His greatest achievement during the war was at the 5th Seaforth Highlanders where he led 600 men against the Germans. They surrounded the enemy camps at night and ambushed them.
Alastair Borthwick success in writing came in 1939 after publishing his book Always a Little Further. The book was based on his adventure field time mountaineering. It also talks about his encounters with different people such as hawkers and tinkers. Common youthful experiences are also told in the book. An example being the journey Alastair took to Ben Nevis in a lorry that had dead sheep. His other book, Sans Peur was also a hit. It recounted the time he spent in the war against the Germans with his battalion. The book received incredible reviews and was later republished in 1994.