Ex-soldier MP slams vandals who dishonour fallen heroes
BY STEPHEN STEWART s.stewart@dailyrecord.co.uk A WAR memorial that was badly damaged by vandals earlier this year has been restored by stonemasons.
The Highland Light Infantry memorial in Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Park was targeted in a hammer attack in February.
Both feet were hacked off the sandstone statue of a Highland soldier and the face was smashed.
Paul Sweeney, a Labour MP in the city who is a former Army reservist, campaigned to have the memorial, which was unveiled in 1906, restored.
He said yesterday: “I’m delighted that the skilled stonemasons were successful in their efforts to painstakingly restore this iconic war memorial.
“It was sickening to think that someone could vandalise such a symbol of remembrance to working-class soldiers from Glasgow, which should be quite distinct from any historic judgment of the Boer Wars.”
Cammy McLeod, of forces charity Who Dares Cares, said: “It’s welcome news to hear that this statue has been saved.
“It beggars belief that these memorials are targeted in the first place. People need to be educated about the sacrifices that were made – then and now – in this country.
“These monuments are about remembering and honouring the past, not glorifying wars.”
A dog walker saw two teenagers attacking the memorial with a hammer before they ran off.
Police launched a probe into the incident and Glasgow City Council said it was contacted by a veteran with “a kind offer of financial assistance” towards the repair.
At the time, Sweeney said: “The memorial is a tribute to all the Glasgow HLI men who fought and fell in the Boer Wars.
“The Boer War was controversial at the time, as it is now, but the statue is not glorifying that.
“It was erected to remember the people – many of them workingclass boys – who made such sacrifices.”
CAMMY McLEOD OF WHO DARES CARES