Names to be added to Kirkcaldy War Memorial

From today's 'Fife Today'

Five more heroes honoured at war memorial

The names of five heroes who gave their lives in the service of their country since WW2 are to be added to a new extension of Kirkcaldy’s war memorial.

Work has been carried out over the past week building a wall to the side of the original memorial in the gardens in front of the town’s museum and art gallery on which new plaques bearing the names of service personnel who died in conflicts ranging from Palestine to Iraq will be attached.

And it is hoped that the work, which will also include cleaning of current plaques and stonework around the whole of the memorial at a total cost of around £15,000, will be completed in time for a dedication service by the Black Watch before they deploy on their next tour of duty in September.

Important work

Councillor Alice Soper, chairman of the Kirkcaldy area committee, who initiated the project after being approached by the soldiers’ families, explained that the extension to the war memorial is very important.

She said: “I’m delighted that work is now well underway on the extension to the war memorial and will be finished by the end of August.

‘‘It’s vitally important we commemorate local people who have been lost in more recent conflicts alongside those already highlighted on the memorial.

“We’ve been working closely with the Scottish National War Memorial Trust, of which I am a trustee, and the local branch of the Royal British Legion Scotland to check names to be engraved on the memorial.

“Those names will feature on new plaques and we wanted to make sure they would be in keeping with the current war memorial.

Dedication ceremony

“Once the work is completed we will be organising a dedication ceremony to unveil the extension to the war memorial.”

Reg Briars, Fife area chairman for the Royal British legion Scotland, said: “We are delighted to see this happening.

‘‘The work was started by our colleague Jim Honeyman who passed away recenntly, and we are delighted to see everything coming together after all the work.”

Jim Paterson, Fife area secretary, added: “The new right hand wall will bear the names of servicemen and women lost in conflicts from 1946 onwards.

‘‘This is vitally important that these people are recognised.”