Baby Hero witnesses Islay monument rededication
THE great-great-great-granddaughter of an Islay man who rescued SS Tuscania sinking victims witnessed WW100’s re-dedication of the American monument on the Mull of Oa.
Hero Mary Islay Ishqa Mathers-Brooks, aged four months, whose long distant relative Duncan Campbell BEM rescued survivors from the Mull cliffs, was silent during the service last Friday.
Hero was carried across the boggy rocky headland to the 8am service, conducted by the Royal British Legion of Scotland (RBLS) national padre Karen Campbell, by her parents Imogen Mathers and Oliver Brooks who drove to the island from London for their first trip to Islay.
In February 1918, Duncan Campbell helped save survivors of the SS Tuscania sinking, in which 200 perished and sheltered 14 in his Stremnish cottage. More than four hours before HRH Princess Anne arrived in Port Ellen to lay a wreath at the village’s war memorial, a large group assembled in the RSPB car park to make the 25-minute ascent to the Mull's monument.
Photographers and the media packed the hillside next to the memorial as Reverend Campbell conducted the service, in the presence of the Queen’s representative the Lord Lieutenant of Argyll and Bute, Patrick Stewart, from Campbeltown, and national RBLS standard bearers.
Rev Campbell welcomed the official representatives and a huge congregation of islanders and made the following address: 'On behalf of WW100 may I welcome you to this poignant memorial to all those whose lives were lost in the sinkings of the Otranto and Tuscania.
‘In the pitch dark of night, from these hills and this land, from croft and farm, from police station and distillery, Islay people heard the call to serve and to save.
‘They delivered the soldiers and sailors from the tumultuous waves; they brought dignity to the dead; sustenance, shelter, food, clothing and care to the living: they made a record of the people: they did what was right.
‘And from the sea came those, whose service was yet to begin; or whose service was complete in their drowning, as they gave of their best and their all in the war to end all wars.
‘Together Islay people, who had waved their own sons away, brought succour to their mother’s sons and forged a bond over the oceans never to be forgotten with the families of those who were on the Otranto and the Tuscania.
‘Yesterday, Lord Robertson, the grandson of George McNeill, the Islay police officer in charge that night, laid a wreath at the site of the sinking of the Tuscania.
‘And together, we remember the events; all those who lost their lives, as well as the survivors: and all those who cared for them in the aftermath of tragedy.
‘We re-dedicate this war memorial; a sentinel over the headland, as a reminder, of what was and is a part of the story of Islay and America.’
After the service, an American grandson of a survivor, from Seattle, told Rev Campbell: ‘This is a most wonderful feeling of pilgrimmage.’
CLOSE on 1,000 islanders and visitors, among them the Princess Royal and other invited guests, attended the WW100 Scotland centennial commemoration held in favourable weather conditions at the war memorial at the Port Ellen harbour on Friday May 4.
The service remembered those who had perished when the troopships Tuscania and Otranto sank off Islay’s shores with the loss of 700 lives in the closing months of the First World War.
Also remembered were the 200 islanders who lost their lives during the 1914-18 hostilities.
Among the dignitaries at the moving and heartfelt act of commemoration was the Scottish Government’s Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs, and the UK’s American ambassador Robert Wood Johnston. Also involved was the acting ambassador for the Federal Republic of Germany, Tania Freiin von UslarGleiche, and the Consul General of France, Emmanuel Tocher.
Other guests included David Mundell, Secretary of State for Scotland, Argyll and Bute MSP and Brexit Minister Michael Russell, Lord Lieutenant Patrick Stewart, and US Navy Attache Mark Rudesill.
All began with the Islay Pipe Band leading children from all the island schools carrying the 41 state flags representing the areas of the USA which were home to the servicemen lost in the Tuscania and Otranto tragedies.
In her opening homily, Ms Hyslop said: ‘Let us all together be mindful of the loss of so many young American on the Tuscania and the Otranto and of the merchant seamen who died with them. Let us all together be mindful of the people of this island who saved the lives of those who could be saved, and recovered as many as possible from the sea. Let us all together be mindful of the men of Islay and Jura who went to war and never returned.’
The service of remembrance was conducted by the Rev Valerie Watson, minister of the North and West Islay churches, and the prayers were led by the Rt Rev Dr Derek Browning, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.
The Islay Gaelic choirs sang Tuireadh Nan Treun, the haunting lament penned by Islay bard Duncan Johnston for those local heroes who lost their lives in the First World War, Islay High School pupil Ryan Johnston read the 23rd Psalm in Gaelic, and the 2017 Mòd gold medallist Alasdair Currie performed Sine Bhàn, another Duncan Johnston composition with strong connections with the Great War.
Medical practice head and GP Dr Angus MacTaggart reflected on Islay’s contribution to the war efforts and touched on the supreme sacrifice of a family member from Caolila.
A reading from St Matthew’s Gospel was given by Malcolm MacNeill, a great-grandson of police sergeant Malcolm MacNeill, the officer who had played such a pivotal role in the rescue operations following the two maritime tragedies.
Four Royal Marines buglers sounded The Last Post, and piper James MacEachern played The Flowers of the Forest prior to the wreath-laying ceremony. This was led by the Princess Royal, and a further wreath was placed by her husband, Vice-Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, in his capacity as vice-chairman of the Commonwealth War Graves.
Following a rousing rendering of Amazing Grace, led by Alasdair Currie, Her Royal Highness attended a reception in the nearby Ramsay Hall. This gave her the opportunity to meet the other dignitaries and the descendants of families affected by First World War losses. She also took the opportunity to view relevant art work and enjoy a fittingly interpretative performance by the Ella Edgar Dancers.
Earlier in the day, a small re-dedication service took place at the American War Memorial at the Mull of Oa. This was conducted by the Rev Dr Karen Campbell, national chaplain for the British Legion Scotland. Wreaths were laid by the Lord Lieutenant and the US naval attache.
The lone piper was Neil MacTaggart and lying offshore at the site of the Tuscania sinking were a number of British, French, German and US warships which had just completed a large-scale exercise off the west coast of Scotland.
On the previous day, the British Legion chaplain conducted an act of remembrance on board HMS Raider at the position where the Tuscania sank. She was accompanied by Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, the former Secretary General of NATO, who laid a wreath at sea and stressed that ‘although a century has passed, we will not forget’.
US ambassador Woody Johnston said he was highly impressed by the island commemoration, adding that the organisers had ‘carried out the arrangements with the dedication and skill which was shown by past islanders in their treatment of my people who lost their lives on these shores’.
‘I will make sure,’ he emphasised, ‘that the American people will learn about and remember the outstanding part played in those awesome tragedies by a selfless people on this small island’.