Plea for info about 4 forgotten heroes

Mar 9 2007 By Emily Henderson

AN appeal is being made for information to help establish if four men who died in World Wars I and II came from Stonehouse, so that they can be properly commemorated.

Members of the recently-established war memorial sub-committee, comprising members of the village’s community council and heritage group, initially identified 37 ‘forgotten’ servicemen (31 killed in World War I and six in World War II) whose names are not included on the war memorial in Manse Road cemetery. They hope to secure funding for a new memorial and have almost completed their research but still need to confirm whether the following soldiers have a definite Stonehouse link.

They are: Private Hugh Paterson, of the New Zealand Medical Corps, who was killed in Turkey in 1915, aged 20; Sergeant John Reid, of the Argyle and Southern Highlanders, who drowned at sea in 1918; Flight Sergeant John George L. Hughes, of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserves (26 Squadron), a pilot who was killed in an air raid on Rotterdam, aged 22; and Gunner James McLean of the Royal Artillery 7th Coastal Regiment, who died in 1944, aged 29. The ship he was travelling on was accidentally sunk by American troops off the coast of China.

“Since the first article appealing for information was published in the Advertiser at the beginning of February, we have added two new names to the list,” said John Young, one of the sub-committee members.

He continued: “We haven’t established a definite criteria for those who can be included on the memorial, but we want to recognise men or women who have a real connection to the village, as opposed to people who just passed through. There are a number of plaques in churches around Stonehouse with names of soldiers who for some reason were not included on the main Manse Road memorial. Many service men and women came from, or lived in Stonehouse but then moved away so they may have been overlooked.

“It is not just those from the World Wars we want to commemorate. If anyone has information about someone killed in the Falklands or Vietnam, for example, we would like to hear from them.”

A site visit to Manse Road cemetery is being planned, to determine what kind of new memorial would be suitable. If you can help with the sub-committee’s research, contact John on 01698 792479.