The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Disgust at state of hero’s grave
THE GRAVE of a First World War airman was left littered with debris from graveyard building work.
Coupar Angus resident Ron Stephen was appalled to find the final resting place of 19-year-old Second Lieutenant Howard Watson covered in rubbish from building works on a nearby mausoleum.
Mr Stephen was so disgusted he mobilised a group of volunteers to clean up the lair.
However, council officials claimed the material was only being stored at the site temporarily and workers had not intended to offend anyone.
Second LtWatson was killed after falling from his plane following a mid-air collision with another aircraft while flying over Newcastle in 1918.
Mr Stephen said the airman’s memory had being disrespected.
“It’s thoughtless, there’s been no consideration at all,” he said.
“It’s quite disappointing, these gravestones are quite distinctive – if you see one you know what it is, you know the person was in the armed forces.”
He continued: “It’s just dreadful. “We realise that they are doing the building up but the thing is there nshould be other facilities for storing that kind of material, not behind the poor chap’s grave. “It just beggars belief. “Anyone with an ounce of common sense would have put it inside the mausoleum.”
Mr Stephen slammed the council for failing to act over the mess, especially in the run up to the national festival of remembrance for fallen servicemen.
He said: “Here we are coming up to Remembrance Day, the good and the great will be wandering round Perth doing their stuff and we have this in Coupar Angus. It just doesn’t add up.
“It’s been pointed out to the council and they haven’t done anything about it.
“They did give me a reply telling me what they were doing at the mausoleum, but they were just telling me what I knew already.”
A spokeswoman for Perth and Kinross Council said: “Currently renovation work is ongoing in Coupar Angus churchyard as part of the Perth & Kinross Heritage Trust’s Historic Churchyards Project.
“Materials being used in these works had been temporarily left in the vicinity of the grave – however, they have now been removed.
“There was no intent whatsoever to offend by the materials being placed in that location.”