‘Everyone deserves somewhere people can go to pay respects’
FIONA Barrett is preparing to make her first visit to the cemetery to honour a member of her family.
She will make the 400mile journey from her home in Maidenhead, Berkshire, to see the new headstone erected above the grave of Andrew Brownlie.
Aircraft fitter Andrew died on March 16, 1942, when he, along with 15 other young Allied airmen, was killed in a tragic plane crash. He was just 29 at the time.
Their Liberator bomber smashed into a mountain close to Jenkinstown, Ireland.
The aircraft is thought to have been returning to Britain from Egypt where it had been part of a squadron involved in bombing missions in North Africa.
Fiona, 48, discovered Andrew’s death while researching her family tree.
He would have been her step-uncle as his father Thomas married Fiona’s paternal grandmother Josephine Gourlay when Andrew was a young boy.
Fiona said she wanted to attend the event in Sighthill Cemetery in person to see Andrew’s new headstone.
“I thought it was important someone was there,” she said. “Andrew never had a chance to get married or have children.
“It’s important he gets the acknowledgement, respect and dignity he deserves. And if there are more relatives then it gives them somewhere to go to pay their respects.”
The ill-fated Liberator bomber left Egypt bound for Britain with 19 airmen on board, which included Britons, Americans, Canadians, Australians and New Zealanders.
Just three people are thought to have survived.
The cause of the crash was never established although it was suspected that poor visibility was the reason.
The accident was the second of three fatal wartime crashes in the area.
A British Hudson bomber crashed with three fatalities in 1941 and a P-51 Mustang fighter of the US Army Air Forces crashed in September 1944 killing its pilot.
Andrew had two sisters – Agnes, who was born in 1909, and Mary, who was born in 1911. Fiona said the family was from Bo’ness and that Agnes moved to Australia as an adult.
Fiona, who works as a nurse, said another relative of Andrew’s – a great-nephew Graeme Hedger who lives in Australia – was also aware of the story and even supplied photos of the fallen hero.
They
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Andrew pictured in shorts and a short-sleeved shirt, standing in front of a building with palm trees in the background.
Another photo shows him in uniform, smiling as he poses with three comrades.
And there will be more than one family member at the service at Sighthill as Fiona plans to attend the event with her daughter Abigail, 22, and son Leo, 13.
As Fiona prepared to make her emotional journey to Scotland she spoke of the importance that Andrew’s and the other young heroes’ sacrifice meant to her.
“Lots of those young men went off to war and never came home again. Andrew died in a horrible war at a young age. I feel proud of him,” she added.
“That’s why it’s important to have his death recognised. Everyone deserves somewhere people can go to pay their respects.”