After 60 years, our heroes are finally at peace
The gravestones of 85 fallen soldiers are returned to their original resting place
THE gravestones of 85 war heroes are being restored to their former glory – in time for Remembrance Sunday.
For more than 60 years, the graves of the fallen military personnel lay unmarked in Sighthill Cemetery, Glasgow.
The original headstones were removed in the 1950s after the graveyard fell into disrepair.
Over the years, grass grew over the foundations of many of the tombstones, hiding any indication of where the brave men lay.
Memorials commemorating their deaths were instead grouped in a small garden of remembrance at Eastwood Cemetery in Glasgow – almost 10 miles away.
However, now, after decades, their final resting place will again be clear for all to see – a result of the dedicated project to see the tombstones returned to their rightful place.
In total, 85 headstones are being reinstated at Sighthill Cemetery by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Iain Anderson, the commission’s regional supervisor for Scotland, spent five years working with Glasgow City Council to painstakingly locate each of the graves.
He said: “We are always very pleased to be able to give our men and women who fought during both world wars the commemoration and recognition they deserve.
“Even though our boys were commemorated at another cemetery for the last 60 years when the original headstones were removed, it’s very special to be able to re-install the headstones where they lay, so everyone can remember them.”
More than one million British military personnel died during the First and Second World Wars.
The First World War alone accounted for 886,000 of those fatalities.
Mr Anderson, who had worked with the CWGC for more than 30 years, said the commission has helped install headstones for heroes buried all over the UK, the Faroe Islands and even Iceland. And he hopes the new headstones will encourage people to pay their respects to Britain’s fallen heroes.
He said: “The main thing is to emphasise to people that there are war graves on their doorstep.”
The service forms part of a rolling programme of commemoration events across Glasgow to mark the Great War, and comes as the nation prepares to honour its war dead.
Kevin Gray, the chief executive officer of Legion Scotland, is extremely pleased with the poignant project.
He said: “Everyone will have a connection to the armed forces, be it through great-grandparents, grandparents, parents, brothers and sisters or friends.
“That connection also stretches into every community in the country from our largest cities to our smallest villages and the most remote areas of the country.
“Therefore, Remembrance is a poignant time of the year and having a visual reminder of the sacrifice people made, whether it be local war memorials or graves, is important. We have been a big supporter of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission for some time and the work they do.”
The removal of the tombstones from Sighthill Cemetery happened after the then privately-owned graveyard fell into disrepair in the 1950s.
But the removal passed with little comment at the time.
One of the only mentions was carried in a Glasgow-based newspaper in May 1953 in an article covering the memorial at Eastwood Cemetery.
The new headstones – which will be officially unveiled on Tuesday – were made in Aberdeen from granite and inscribed at a specialist CWGC facility in France before being shipped back to Scotland.
Glasgow’s Lord Provost Sadie Docherty, said: “It’s wonderful news that our war heroes can finally be laid to rest with the dignity they deserve. I’m sure the soldiers’ families will be delighted with the work that has been done.”