Bench to keep Geoff in mind
The organisers of the annual veterans’parade where Cambuslang war hero Geoff Bryden was guest of honour have paid a special tribute to him.
WWII hero Geoff was VIP guest at the Dunkirk Remembrance parade in Balloch for more than a decade.
Members of Vale of Leven Remembrance Association were saddened to hear of his death and passed on their condolences to Geoff’s family last week.
Closely-connected charity The Skylark Trust also announced that a Dunkirk memorial bench recently built will be dedicated to Geoff.
Mary Burch of the Skylark Trust said:“Geoff kindly made a donation to us and we’d already decided we wanted to do something to remember him.
“We recently had a bench made, which will now be a memorial bench in Geoff’s name, although we’ve still to decide where it will be placed.”
Lyle Davidson of the Vale of Leven Remembrance Association was in touch with Geoff’s family last week and helped to organise a piper for his funeral.
He said:“Geoff was a fantastic man and it was a pleasure to share his company.
“Last year my wife picked Geoff up to attend our parade because his daughter was on holiday and I got to spend the day with him.
“He was a nice, pleasant man and what he did in the forces and for his country is second to none.
“I remember Geoff telling me about being captured in France and then walking right up to Berlin and then on to Poland.
“I knew he wasn’t very well and that hospital staff didn’t want him to attend our march this year but Shirley told us he was determined to make it anyway, even if he had to crawl here.
“I’m so glad Geoff made it because he was well thought of here.
“He’d been at the parade for many years and our MSP Jackie Baillie, MP Martin Docherty and our army cadets always enjoyed speaking with him.”