We shall remember them

I was proud to be invited to attend the inaugural Bridgeton Victoria Cross Memorial Dedication and Remembrance Day service at Bridgeton Cross on the 11th of November.

When the Cross was being improved, a local history group had asked if a memorial could be laid to local servicemen Major John Simpson Knox, Piper John Clelland Richardson and Pte. Henry May who had been awarded the VC for their service in the First World War.

Charlie McDonald did a fine job of organising the event, and bringing together local politicians, school children, Priest and Ministers, and the fascinating Gordon Highlanders 1914-1918 Living History Group.

Reverend Howard Hudson, Father Stephen Dunn and Reverend Adah Younger all participated in the Ecumenical service. There was a great turnout of local people, and when the bell in the Bridgeton Umbrella struck 11, the buses coming through the Cross also stopped to mark the time.

I attended the ceremony at the Cenotaph in George Square last year, and while that had a great deal of significance, I felt that this local service made the act of remembrance a more poignant and personal one. The Umbrella and buildings around the Cross were standing when local men went off to war, never to return to their homes. It seemed quite appropriate to remember them there.

There's an excellent article covering the service in the Evening Times.


Thanks to George Parsonage for his photos of the ceremony.