Meeting of the Parliament

Meeting date: Thursday, February 27, 2020

Official Report 1081KB pdf

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War Memorials

The next item of business is a members’ business debate on motion S5M-19754, in the name of Tom Arthur, on Scotland’s war memorials. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.

Motion debated,

That the Parliament recognises the importance of protecting and conserving Scotland’s war memorials, and highlights the positive impact that war memorial associations have in communities across the country; understands that, until 2015, the East Renfrewshire village of Neilston was one of the few communities in Scotland that did not have a unified memorial to acknowledge those who gave their lives in the service of their country; recognises the crucial role played by Matt Drennan, Secretary of the Neilston War Memorial Association, in campaigning for a memorial and raising the £85,000 required for its construction and who now dedicates significant time to the upkeep of the site; notes that Matt was instrumental in obtaining a Book of Dedication for the fallen, which now sits in Neilston Library, and that he was part of the small team that spent hundreds of hours researching the names and historical backgrounds of men from Neilston who lost their lives in the wars; further notes that Matt also plays a significant role in the organisation and running of Neilston’s annual Remembrance Service Parade; recognises the efforts of all those who support war memorials around the Renfrewshire South constituency, and all those involved in war memorial associations across Scotland, and thanks them for their selfless work.

12:49  

I am grateful for the opportunity to lead this afternoon’s members’ business debate, which recognises both the importance of protecting and conserving Scotland’s war memorials and the positive contribution that local war memorial associations make to communities across Scotland. I thank members from across the chamber for supporting my motion to enable the debate to take place, and I look forward to hearing contributions from members regarding the war memorial associations in their areas.

My constituency takes in a number of the towns and villages of southern, eastern and western Renfrewshire, from the large towns of Barrhead, where I was brought up, and Johnstone, where I live, to the more rural villages of Lochwinnoch and Uplawmoor. Nearly all the settlements in Renfrewshire South have a war memorial and, in my capacity as the constituency MSP, I have the honour of laying wreaths at many of them on each remembrance Sunday.

Although every community in my constituency was severely impacted by the loss of life that was sustained in the two world wars, there is always a particular poignancy associated with commemorations in the villages. Even in today’s highly connected world, with many people regularly commuting to different parts of the country for work, village life is still characterised by a familiarity and sense of place that is unique. Those traits, which are a source of strength, can make the experience of loss particularly acute, so it is understandable that so many of our villages choose to have their own dedicated war memorials.

Although there is much that I would like to say about the war memorials in Renfrewshire South, I will focus my remarks on the war memorial, and its association, of one village in particular: Neilston. Until as recently as 2015, Neilston was one of only a few villages in Scotland not to have a civic memorial to honour its war dead. Residents of Neilston had long contributed funds to support national war memorials, but only the three local soldiers who fell during the Boer war were honoured with a public memorial in the grounds of Neilston parish church.

Neilston lost 164 of its young men between 1914 and 1918, including 16 in one day during the 1915 battle of Loos. That casualty rate is significantly higher than the national average. It was amid growing discomfort at the absence of a fixed memorial, with the approaching centenary of the outbreak of the first world war, that, in 2011, members of the community established the Neilston War Memorial Association.

Many people from the village and beyond soon became involved in supporting the association in its objective of funding and delivering a fitting memorial for the more than 200 Neilston lads who made the ultimate sacrifice in the two world wars and other conflicts, including in Northern Ireland. The war memorial association was supported generously by many local businesses and benefited from many individual donations, as well as from the spectacular fundraising feat of local man Jimmy Higgins, who, along with his cousin John McGuire, walked the 600 miles or so from Neilston to Vimy ridge, in France, which is the site of the battlefield where his grandfather fought in the first world war.

One individual, in particular, who has made and continues to make a huge contribution is Matt Drennan, the secretary of the Neilston War Memorial Association. I am delighted that he has been able to join us today in the public gallery, along with his wife, Jacqueline. It was Matt’s good friend, the writer and photographer Keith Fergus, who first told me about Matt’s key role in the association. I had the pleasure of meeting them for coffee over the weekend, and I was blown away by Matt’s passion and his encyclopaedic knowledge of the impact that the two world wars had on Neilston and the wider area. Forensic in detail and utterly dedicated to his subject as he is, it was a privilege to chat with him.

When Neilston’s unique and moving war memorial was erected, it might have seemed to some as though it was job done, but that was not the case for Matt. He continues his assiduous research to ensure that all who fell are honoured and that the list of names on the memorial is updated as new information comes to light. Matt was instrumental in obtaining a book of dedication for the fallen, which sits in Neilston library, and he was part of the small team that spent hundreds of hours researching the names and backgrounds of those who lost their lives in the wars.

Matt plays a significant role in the organisation and running of Neilston’s annual remembrance service parade, as well as in ensuring that the memorial is well maintained. He has been a key part of the development of the Neilston War Memorial Association into a wider-ranging community organisation, helping to secure lottery funding for bagpipe parades, Christmas lights and, later this year, a community fun day in Kingston park to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the end of the second world war.

Matt is currently working on a special and worthwhile project. This Sunday will mark the 75th anniversary of the arrival in Neilston of 19 Norwegian refugees. Their journey from their native island of Sørøya to the safety of the Kingston park hostel in Neilston is a harrowing and heroic story.

In early 1945, as Hitler’s 1,000-year Reich began to collapse after barely a decade, German forces began the forced deportation of able-bodied civilians from Norway to forced labour camps. The islanders of Sørøya resisted and were met with a brutal German retaliation. There was indiscriminate bombing of civilians, destruction of property and the requisition of food supplies.

An audacious rescue mission was launched by the Royal Navy, which successfully transported over 500 civilians to safety in Murmansk, Russia. The next stage of the mission involved a perilous convoy that skirted the Arctic Circle to transport the refugees to Scotland. Harried by U-boats and one of the final maritime Luftwaffe missions of the war, the convoy also had to contend with atrocious weather.

During the treacherous journey, one of the convoy ships—the American Liberty ship, the SS Henry Bacon—suffered storm damage and became separated from the main convoy. Under heavy enemy fire, the crew valiantly held out for some time, downing several German torpedo bombers. When the vessel was struck, 27 members of the crew went down with the ship, selflessly ensuring that 19 Norwegian refugees found refuge in the lifeboats before reaching safety in Scotland.

To commemorate those American sailors, who made the ultimate sacrifice, Matt Drennan is leading the Neilston War Memorial Association’s efforts to establish a memorial in Kingston park that will consist of 27 native Norwegian trees—one for each life that was lost on the SS Henry Bacon. Those crew members’ lives were given so that the refugees could find sanctuary. We must continuously reflect on their example and remind others of it.

The events of the second world war—indeed, of all wars—must serve as a lesson to us today, as they demonstrate our capacity for both evil and good. The work of the Neilston War Memorial Association and Matt Drennan, in particular, has perhaps never been more important in helping us to remember, understand and learn. I put on the record my sincere thanks to Matt and everyone who is involved in the association for all the work that they do. They are a credit to their community and I wish them the very best in all their future work.

We move to the open debate. I remind members that we are time limited today, so everyone must stick to no more than four minutes for their speeches. We have a lot of members who wish to speak.

12:56  

I thank Tom Arthur for bringing this significant subject to the chamber for debate. I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak about Scotland’s war memorials and the importance of their preservation.

I am sure that most, if not all, of us in the chamber have had the opportunity to stand before war memorials and view plaques that are etched with the names of hundreds or even thousands of men and women who died fighting for their country. I believe that I speak not only for myself when I say that these visual representations of the staggering losses of war are very poignant. They remind us of the extraordinary sacrifices that were made by ordinary people in our local areas and in the country as a whole. War memorials are much more than ornate stone walls and metal plaques; they are monuments to the memory of beloved husbands and wives and cherished sons and daughters.

For those who have never seen warfare, viewing monuments and memorials does not bestow understanding of the hardships and horrors that soldiers often endure in war. However, they remind all who see them of the soldiers who bravely faced such struggles and why they deserve our respect. As a veteran, I am aware of how important it is to remember those who have fallen in war. There is a famous epitaph by John Maxwell Edmonds that says:

“When you go home, tell them of us and say, for your tomorrow, we gave our today.”

Many men and women have given their lives for our tomorrow. It is humbling to remember the courage and sacrifice of so many who died so that Scotland could continue to progress. We must remember, and we must make it possible for future generations to remember as well. For that reason, we construct and preserve war memorials, and in doing so we ensure that

“Their name liveth for evermore.”

It does Scotland credit that we have an estimated 10,000 war memorials, the majority of which are dedicated to soldiers from the first world war to the present. They are found not only in major cities but in our rural communities. In Helensburgh, which is my home town, we are lucky enough to have the Hermitage park war memorial by which to remember those from our community who gave their lives in times of war. It has recently benefited from repairs, and the names of the soldiers, sailors and airmen, which were worn and difficult to read, are now perfectly legible.

The war memorial in the little village or hamlet of Shandon on the Gare Loch, in my region, was recently relocated from the parish church after many years spent lying in the garden there and not being erected. That reflects the loyalty and the total dedication of the local people, who wanted to put it back in place by Blairvadach.

As Tom Arthur has mentioned, Mr Drennan and his team did a lot of work in Neilston. He played a crucial role in obtaining a book of dedication for the fallen in Neilston and worked on a team who dedicated hundreds of hours to finding the names and histories of those from Neilston who fell in the wars.

The Neilston war memorial was completed in 2016 and stands in memory of 217 men from Neilston who died in war. I am proud to have that memorial in my region. Now that the memorial is finished, Mr Drennan is dedicating his life to its upkeep and the preservation of the memory of Neilston’s war heroes.

I will mention two other examples from my region. First, in Arrochar, Mary Haggarty and others in the Arrochar, Tarbet and Ardlui community council have put together wonderful historical records of the war memorial and the first world war. They are now working on second world war records and have refurbished the memorial park on the A83, which is much more accessible for people to come and see.

In Rosneath, the war memorial is dedicated to the American convoys and the sailors who sailed the North Atlantic so bravely in defending and protecting our nation and to make sure that we were fed and supplied with materials.

We owe a debt to our fallen soldiers, sailors and airmen, which we can never repay. They made the ultimate sacrifice, for which we should be eternally grateful. We can convey that gratitude by ensuring that their legacies continue in our memory, and war memorials play a major part in that continuation. The efforts of, and stories by, people such as Mr Drennan and Mary Haggarty, as well as those of the villages of Rosneath and Shandon, have ensured that they will be remembered as much more than mere names engraved on a war memorial wall.

I thank all those individuals and organisations who are working diligently to preserve Scotland’s war memorials. They are immortalising the memory of Scotland’s fallen heroes.

This is a very important subject, and I do not want to cut people off mid-flow, but members will have less than four minutes each from now on.

13:01  

I am pleased to be called to speak in this lunch-time debate on Scotland’s war memorials. I, too, congratulate Tom Arthur on securing the debate and on his excellent tribute to the work of the Neilston War Memorial Association.

When reflecting on what I would say today, I considered the nature of the important role of war memorials in villages, towns and cities across Scotland. I concluded that war memorials are not just about paying tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice, as important as that is. War memorials serve as a reminder of the importance of and pride in community; they also ensure that current and future generations are mindful of what war involves and the terrible impact that it has.

I praise all the associations across the land that look after our war memorials and, indeed, all the individuals involved, be they members of community councils, the Royal British Legion or the council, or simply local volunteers. I also praise all the local “in bloom” organisations, which contribute their time to ensure that any flowerbeds are carefully cultivated, nurtured and tended to.

In my Cowdenbeath constituency, as in every constituency in Scotland, there is no community that does not have some form of war memorial. Presiding Officer, you will be pleased to hear that I cannot in the time available list every war memorial in my Cowdenbeath constituency, but I will mention a few.

The Cowdenbeath war memorial is dedicated to the men who gave their lives in the first and second world wars. I am privileged to lay a wreath there every year as the constituency MSP. I always take the time at that dignified ceremony to read the names of the fallen, which are inscribed on the memorial. It is a very long roll call, with many sharing the same surname. I also mention the spruced-up memorial at the town house in Cowdenbeath, where all concerned have done a very good job.

Kelty has a well-loved memorial that represents, through an iconic statue, a Highland soldier from the first world war.

It is worth noting that, in Benarty, there was no non-utilitarian war memorial to the fallen from the village until as recently as 1980; rather, given the area’s strong mining heritage, Benarty had the Mary pit war memorial. Further to work by the Benarty heritage preservation group and its excellent research project, “Benarty Patriots: The Fallen of WW1”, and after painstaking research, the names of 179 young men of Benarty were found, and those names are now inscribed on the war memorial, ensuring that the sacrifice of those young men is recognised.

I also recognise the many other kinds of memorial to the fallen across my constituency—for example, the bronze placard in Rosyth parish church, the Inverkeithing roll of honour, which sits in the vestibule of St John’s church, and the stone of remembrance in Lochgelly bowling club, which is inscribed with the names of six members of the club who died in the first world war. All those memorials are part of the fabric of our nation and we thank very much indeed all those who look after them.

13:05  

I thank Tom Arthur for lodging the motion and congratulate Matt Drennan and the Neilston War Memorial Association on their hard work in building the memorial and their on-going work.

War memorials are an important reminder of the tragic impact of wars on local communities. They are sobering reminders of the sacrifices of ordinary people, especially in the two world wars, but also in numerous other conflicts. After the first world war, the scale of the losses and the large number of soldiers whose fate remained unknown and uncertain left those at home with a shared sense of grief. Few families were untouched, and people needed somewhere to focus their grief. That led to the construction of many memorials—sadly, as we have heard, that did not happen at that time in Neilston.

We cannot overestimate the importance of war memorials, which sit at the centre of our communities, as Annabelle Ewing said, and remind us of the sacrifices made by so many young men and women. They have also come to play an important educational role for schools and local history groups. By keeping the memory of the fallen alive, they help us to learn about the history of conflicts and understand the human cost.

I have a special interest in the memorial in my home town of Coatbridge, in Fulton MacGregor’s constituency. I have attended numerous remembrance services there over the years. Like many monuments around Scotland, it is a remarkable and beautiful piece of art. A less well-known fact is that the architect was a woman named Edith Mary Wardlaw Burnet Hughes. She was one of the many women who shaped Scotland but whose story is hidden beneath the stories of Scotland’s men. She attended lectures at the Sorbonne and was a graduate of Gray’s school of art in Aberdeen. She set up a practice in 1920, specialising in domestic architecture. She is considered Britain’s first practising woman architect. Her two most important public commissions were the Coatbridge war memorial and Glasgow’s mercat cross, which many members will be familiar with. It is important to recall the contribution of women in Scotland to these issues.

I turn specifically to those who are remembered on the Coatbridge monument. Two dedicated researchers have compiled information on all 863 fallen soldiers. It is only when detailed family histories are reconstructed and linked to one another that something of the full extent of the collective communal tragedy experienced in one small community can be felt. I am sure that that is the case in Neilston as well as in Coatbridge.

When my own parish of St Patrick’s marked the centenary of the armistice, we remembered the 200 sons of our parish who died in the first world war. Les Jenkins, a retired teacher from Coatbridge, started what became a 35-year project, completing it in his retirement to mark the centenary. Little did he know at the time that John McCann, another Coatbridge man, was also researching the lives of Coatbridge’s fallen and had accumulated hundreds of photos from visits to battlefields. Les’s biographies, which are now available in the local studies room at Airdrie library, tell the human story in a heartbreaking way. One example is the story of 19-year-old George Orr of Church Street in Coatbridge, who died on the western front and is also remembered on the Thiepval memorial, where 45 Coatbridge men are remembered, together with 72,000 others who were reported missing at the Somme. Another man was killed on the day his child was born, and another three brothers, aged from 21 to 23, were killed within nine months of one another. There are names of women on the memorial, too, many of whom were serving as nurses—one senior staff nurse, Kathrine Aitken, died at the Somme in 1915 aged 27.

There were also those whose lives were cut short due to injuries sustained, including my own great-grandfather, Jimmy McDowell, who lost a leg. They all deserve to be remembered, and I am sure that the new memorial at Neilston will become as important to its community as the one in Coatbridge is.

The debate is an important opportunity for the Parliament to place on record our appreciation for all those who give their time to research and record our history, particularly those who do so in a voluntary capacity. I again thank Tom Arthur for bringing the debate to the chamber.

13:09  

I am pleased to be able to speak in the debate, and I congratulate my colleague Tom Arthur on his absolutely excellent contribution.

The debate gives us the opportunity to note the many important sacrifices that have been made over many years, including during the first and second world wars, the recent war in Iraq and the conflict in Afghanistan.

The earliest memorials in Scotland, one of which is in Ayr, record battles that were fought against Viking and English invaders. After the 19th century, war memorials began to be a common feature of communities across Scotland,

“to acknowledge those who gave their lives in the service of their country”.

as Tom Arthur’s motion rightly states.

The south-west of Scotland is home to many historical and modern war memorials. We have the ruins of Dunoon castle, which in 1333 was besieged and taken by Edward Balliol, who surrendered it to Edward III of England. An insurrection ensued, with Balliol being driven out of Scotland. There is a memorial to the castle’s recapture in the castle grounds, which is thought to have been there since the early 15th century.

There are other notable local memorials, one of which is directly beside MacLellan’s castle in Kirkcudbright town centre in my South Scotland region. It serves to honour those who died in the great war and those who fell in world war two. The historic ruins of MacLellan’s castle act as a backdrop to the war memorial, which was unveiled in 1921. It is just one of many great war memorials by the acclaimed Scottish sculptor and artist George Henry Paulin, who died in 1962. The bronze figures on top of the stone base show a warrior holding a sword and shield while protecting a sleeping child. Panels on the memorial’s base list the names of 88 people who died in the first world war and 36 who fell in the second.

Each year, a service is held on remembrance Sunday and, two years ago, the memorial was also used by the Holocaust Educational Trust to educate young people across the region about the Holocaust, and to promote the values of tolerance, respect and kindness towards one another, which we should continue to promote across Scotland today.

In noting Tom Arthur’s references to Neilston and the Neilston War Memorial Association, I, too, welcome Matt and Jacqueline Drennan to the gallery.

I recognise work that has been done by local people in Dumfries and Galloway. Shortly after my election, I was contacted by local constituents Craig Brydson and his father Jim, who were actively trying to establish a war memorial in Buittle churchyard to honour those from the local Buittle parish area, which is near Dalbeattie, who had died fighting for their country. They wanted a new memorial to replace the original plaque, which was located inside Buittle parish church, which had been sold and converted into a private home. For years, that made it difficult for local people to access the plaque on important remembrance occasions. Jim wanted the memorial to honour his uncles, Private George Brydson of the Scottish Rifles section, who died in world war one, and Captain William Brydson of the merchant navy, who died during the second world war.

Through crowdfunding, Jim—along with residents—successfully raised £1,700 for the new memorial. It was carved and inscribed by local business Douglas Swan & Sons in Kirkcudbright. Through engagement with Dumfries and Galloway Council and collaboration with my colleague Councillor Rob Davidson, I was able to assist in having the memorial established, and I attended the unveiling ceremony.

I again welcome the debate and note the importance of our war memorials and the people who look after them.

13:13  

I thank Tom Arthur for bringing this debate to the chamber.

Memory is an important part of who we are as individuals, as communities and, indeed, as a country. As well as helping us to shape who we are now, importantly, it helps us to learn from the mistakes of our past and to create a better future.

The region that I represent—Lothian—has a great many war memorials, and it is right that we remember all those who lost their lives in war. Bathgate in the west of my region is home to Scotland’s Korean war memorial and, just up the road from this chamber, Edinburgh castle, which is one of the most visited places in the United Kingdom, houses Scotland’s national war memorial. More recently, Edinburgh saw the arrival of a statue to Wojtek the bear, who served Polish regiments by carrying ammunition in the second world war. The statue honours the memory of Polish soldiers and reminds us that millions of animals have served and died in wars.

However, Scotland has very few peace memorials, and none at all to those who opposed war as conscientious objectors. Wales has had a memorial to conscientious objectors in Cardiff’s national garden of peace since 2005 and London has a commemorative stone in Tavistock Square, but Scotland has no such memorial.

I know from previous debates that we in this Parliament appreciate that objecting to war and resisting conscription takes great bravery and personal conviction, especially when there is widespread societal support for war, as has been the norm, and severe penalties for those who refuse to serve in armed roles, as was the case during the two world wars.

We have spoken in this chamber about Walter Roberts, who was a conscientious objector who died in Dyce work camp in 1916, after being forced to quarry stone in terrible conditions. Thousands of conscientious objectors were conscripted into coal mining during the second world war, again in dangerous conditions. In the words of Ernest Bevin:

“conscientious objectors, although they have refused to take up arms, have shown as much courage as anyone else in Civil Defence”—[Official Report, House of Commons, 9 December 1943; Vol 395, c 1108.]

It is important to remember that many who refused to fight served their country in medical and other support roles, and were killed doing so.

It is also vital that we remember the role of women in the struggle for peace. For instance, Edinburgh’s Chrystal Macmillan took part in a women’s peace conference at The Hague during the first world war.

It is therefore well past time that, in Scotland, we formally commemorate those who have experienced hardship, imprisonment and even given their lives in the cause of peace. That is why I welcome the work of the Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre, which has been working for some years to build a memorial to conscientious objectors and others who have opposed war. The City of Edinburgh Council has given permission for such a memorial to be erected in Princes Street gardens, and a particularly beautiful and poignant design by artist Kate Ive has won the design competition. Her design will be the first piece of art by a woman to go on permanent display in the gardens.

The memorial will be in the form of a bronze tree and the flowers are based on those of the dove tree, which are said to look like handkerchiefs, recalling a meeting of the no-conscription fellowship in 1916, where, in the face of an aggressive crowd who were trying to break in, the attendees waved their handkerchiefs instead of clapping. Granite from Aberdeen will be used in the memorial to symbolise people who have died in the service of peace.

I recognise Matt Drennan’s fundraising efforts for Neilston. The Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre has done an incredible job of fundraising for the memorial that I have been talking about. The crowdfunder page is just £2,000 off its target of £59,000, and I encourage anyone who is able to to give what they can to ensure that the memorial becomes a reality.

I join Tom Arthur in recognising the efforts of all those who work hard to conserve these important memorials and help us to learn. I also ask that we recognise the efforts of the Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre, the Quakers and other organisations that work to memorialise the efforts of those who have made sacrifice for the cause of peace.

13:17  

I, too, thank Tom Arthur for bringing this important debate to the chamber. There are several war memorials in my constituency of Coatbridge and Chryston. Elaine Smith referred to the big one in Coatbridge, and there are others in Glenboig, Muirhead and Stepps.

At this point, it is worth mentioning that it is important to respect the war memorials. Unfortunately, since my election in 2016, I have had to raise the issue of vandalism at the memorial in Coatbridge twice. The protection of war memorials is something that we can all get behind.

The main reason I wanted to speak in the debate is to pay tribute to the work of three local men and their relationship to the Coatbridge cenotaph. Those three men have taken the time to understand our history and do something to make sure that it is not lost.

As Elaine Smith mentioned—perhaps we can be a tag team on this issue and get all the information across—there are two different pieces of work. First I want to speak about Mr Les Jenkins. As a declaration of interest, I should say that Mr Jenkins was my history teacher at Coatbridge high school in the 1990s. He had a long career there of 30 years, and he is well remembered and much loved by many former pupils, including myself. I take this opportunity to thank him because his passion for history and politics certainly had an effect on my development in those areas.

Mr Jenkins worked on the programme of the war memorial for more than 35 years, which will have included the time that I was at the school, and completed it in the centenary year. He has compiled the stories of all 863 first world war fallen who are on the Coatbridge cenotaph. As Elaine Smith said, the stories are now in a series of folders that are available at Airdrie library.

Mr Jenkins is a bit of a force of nature and I am aware that he still goes into the school to deliver a workshop with secondary 4 pupils on his research. It is testament to him, and another example of his inspiration, that three of Coatbridge high school’s current history teachers, Karen Dunion, Laura Ballantyne and Derek Reid, were all taught by him. His research also helped the school when it was planning a careers event in 2018 to commemorate the end of the first world war.

The other two gentlemen I want to talk about are John McCann and Steven Buick. I welcome Steven Buick to the chamber today. John McCann was not able to make it as he now lives in Belfast, but he is from Coatbridge and I know that he is watching proceedings today. He and Steven Buick have created a website, which is a culmination of more than a decade of research by John, who travelled across Europe to piece together scraps of the information that was recorded about the brave fighting men from Coatbridge who lost their lives during the great war.

John McCann has always had an interest in the war, and he began reading about men who had the same name as him and who died in world war 1, as all his relatives had survived the first and second world wars. As he was doing so, he thought about the memorial. He was quite shocked to learn that no research had been done on the men who it commemorates, so he decided to do it himself. Thirteen year later, the website has come to fruition—all the men were listed on it in February last year. That is where Steven Buick came into the equation, because he has been a web developer since the mid-1990s. He also grew up in Coatbridge and has moved back to his childhood home, where he still lives. He noticed John’s post asking for someone to help him to make his research available on the internet, was inspired and duly obliged.

As of today, the website has received 54,000 views. There has been a lot of support from family and friends of the fallen, who have found out information about their loved ones. I include myself in that, as we were able to trace my gran’s brother. I was quite surprised that family members did not know where he was.

The Presiding Officer is asking me to close, so I thank Tom Arthur again for bringing the debate to the chamber, and I thank the three men whom I have mentioned for the work that they have done in making sure that our war dead are remembered.

13:22  

As I drove up to the crossroads in the village of Gordon, a lone man held up his hand to bring me to a halt. I stopped as he requested, turning off the car engine as I realised why he was there. It was a Sunday—remembrance Sunday—and I was on my way to speak at a church further on. Gathered around the war memorial on the opposite corner to me was a small crowd of people who were there to remember—the war memorial provided the focal point for doing so.

Across Scotland, dotted through countryside, villages, towns and cities, the stone war memorials stand as silent witnesses to those who fought, and died, far from home. They stand as a reminder of the importance of peace and seeking the peace in and for all time. Their numbers silently bear witness to the tragedy of the times when politicians have failed to maintain peace and the consequences for everyone of that failure, including for families and future generations.

However, war memorials also stand for something more: to remind us of the importance of having something that is worth fighting for. Do we still have that? We should always be prepared to ask ourselves that question. I remember my mother taking me to the cenotaph on remembrance day as a young lad, and I remember the very old soldiers—at least, that was how they seemed to me at the time—who were present to remember. However, the real meaning of it all only finally sank in, I think, on a beautifully sunny day years later when, as a teenager, I walked with my Aunt Betty on the Ardrossan shore. We came to stop at the war memorial, and my aunt started to read the names on it. She said, “I remember him; he had blue eyes and fair hair” and, “I also remember him; he sat behind me in maths class”, and so on. As she did so, the names came alive to me as real people. That day gave me a real understanding of what war memorials are really about: people, real people.

Whether it is the Korean war memorial in the Bathgate hills, the Scottish war poets memorial here in Edinburgh or the lists of names on wall plaques in innumerable churches and halls up and down the country, such as Charlotte chapel in Edinburgh, they all bear silent witness. Stones and bronze cannot speak; it takes people to remember and to speak, but we need the memorials to remind us that we need to remember and to act, as the man at the Gordon crossroads did.

13:25  

I thank Tom Arthur for providing the opportunity to highlight the important role that local communities play in ensuring that our armed forces personnel, and especially the fallen, are never forgotten or overlooked. Today, we are specifically noting the hard work of Matt Drennan and the Neilston War Memorial Association in their efforts to create and care for a memorial in their community. However, through the contributions of other members, we have also noted that such work is mirrored in communities the length and breadth of Scotland.

Memorials such as that in Neilston are not there to glorify war but, instead, to recognise the sacrifices that were made to protect the freedoms that we enjoy today. They help us to remember the hardships that were endured, the courage that was displayed in the face of adversity and, sadly, the ultimate sacrifice that is made during times of conflict. They also serve as a lasting reminder that despite all the talk of a war to end all wars, many conflicts have, sadly, followed. Memorials give friends, family and the general public important and poignant focal points to pay their respects to so many of our country’s young men and women who did not return home from conflict. In the case of Neilston, the memorial is for the 217 souls who have given their lives since the first world war.

In my role as veterans minister, I have been lucky enough to have seen at first hand multiple examples of the outstanding work that is being done to honour those who have fought, or continue to fight, for the liberties and relative peace that we often take for granted, and I am often humbled by those experiences. The great work that is being done in Neilston is often replicated right across our country.

In my constituency, I am particularly proud of our award-winning Carnoustie war memorial, which, in 2019, was given the accolade of the best-kept war memorial in Scotland. In nearby East Haven, we have a memorial that marks the contribution of the Airedale terriers in world war one.

Next month, I will visit Ballingry cemetery at the invitation of Annabelle Ewing. That invitation came about following last month’s debate in the Parliament on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. I look forward to having the opportunity to pay my respects and to witnessing a fine example of the work that is being done by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to ensure that our fallen servicemen and servicewomen are commemorated with the dignity that they deserve.

Alison Johnstone and Gordon Lindhurst mentioned the Korean war memorial, which is certainly in the “very special” category—I say that having visited it twice myself. However, of all the memorials that I have visited and will no doubt visit, in terms of sheer poignancy nothing will surpass the commemoration of nine soldiers of the K6 force of the British Indian Army at Kingussie. The simple graves are lovingly tended to by local Legion Scotland member Isobel Harling and are the subject of a poignant annual ceremony that is organised by Glasgow-based Colourful Heritage.

I am pleased that the Scottish Government plays its part in ensuring that war memorials throughout the country are looked after to the highest standard. Through the Scottish Government’s centenary memorials restoration fund, Historic Environment Scotland provided support totalling £1 million to the War Memorials Trust. The money was used to aid repairs to war memorials throughout Scotland from April 2013 to March 2018. The programme supported the repair and conservation of about 125 projects all told, and the support has not ended. Last year, Historic Environment Scotland awarded the War Memorials Trust approximately £90,000 to cover 50 per cent of its grants programme and conservation programme for 2019 to 2023.

The Government—and I, as veterans minister—believe that war memorials have played and will continue to play a vital role in ensuring that, regardless of age or rank, those who laid down their lives for ideals that we all cherish will forever hold an honoured place in our hearts.

In closing the debate, I will return to its subject: the Neilston War Memorial Association and, specifically, its plans to build on its previous achievements by developing an additional memorial at Kingston park. As Tom Arthur highlighted, the new memorial will be to remember 22 American sailors and seven members of the United States Navy armed guard who gave their lives during an operation to rescue Norwegian refugees in the Arctic Circle, towards the end of the second world war. Many of those refugees and others subsequently spent the remainder of the war housed in Neilston, at the Kingston park hostel. It is great to see that the Neilston War Memorial Association continues to show community spirit and I wish it all success in its aims for the new memorial.

I thank Tom Arthur for introducing the debate and for allowing us all to recognise the great work of Matt Drennan and the Neilston War Memorial Association, and that of others in other parts of our country.

13:30 Meeting suspended.  

14:00 On resuming—