Controversy disappears
searchers who bring us cases won’t be able to complete their work.
“But even more importantly, those who fought for this country and have given their lives deserve to be remembered. “It’s our duty to do that. To add “insult to injury”, Mr Denham, 68, has learned the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy will continue to have an adjudicator service.
He added: “The poor old ‘Tommy’ is being left out in the cold for the sake of what, in the great scheme of things, was probably equivalent to the cost of a few Army uniform buttons.” Mr Denham’s anger is shared by military historian Evelyn McKechnie, who campaigned for the establishment of the National Scottish Monument in Flanders. She said: “Identifying heroes and placing their names above last resting places is part of our heritage and history and it has been brought to a halt.
“This is shocking at a time when everyone, from the Royals to ordinary Scots, are commemorating the War’s centenary.”
Evelyn, who organises pilgrimages through Ecosse Battlefield Tours, added: “It’s dreadful to think these soldiers who remain missing will stay lost and forgotten.
“You cannot put a price on the comfort it gives to a family to know where their loved ones fell. It’s our duty to acknowledge their sacrifice.
“I know the emotion. I felt it when I found my uncle Robert’s grave in Normandy.”
An Army spokesman was yesterday loathe to make an official comment
Stephen McLeod at his great uncle’s funeral. but when pressed on the issue he insisted the loss of the adjudicator was not the result of cash cuts by the Army and that the responsibility for the post lay with the NAM.
A spokeswoman for the NAM, who said the organisation’s director could not be contacted until next week, said: “I cannot say anymore apart from the fact that the employee who held the position left as they got another job.”
An exasperated Mr Denham said: “As far as I am concerned, I don’t know or care whether the Army has withdrawn funding or NAM has lost the job, the situation is the adjudicator is gone and we have now nowhere to go to place the final piece in a jigsaw which honours our heroes and brings comfort to their families. “It’s unacceptable. “They should get themselves around a table and sort out this disgraceful situation.”