Veterans and families remember Scotland’s fallen at Erskine

Veterans, military personnel, and family members gathered at Erskine Veterans Village in Renfrewshire to mark Remembrance Day at 11:00 on Monday.

They joined millions across the country in two minutes of silence to pay tribute to British and Commonwealth service personnel who have lost their lives in conflicts.

It is commemorated annually to coincide with the signing of the armistice which ended the First World War on 11 November 1918 at 11:00.

Following a prayer and two minutes of silence at the Erskine Veterans Village, wreaths of red poppies were laid by veterans, family members, and school children.

Veteran Bill McDowell, 63, attends the Remembrance service at Erskine every year and joined the army when he was 16 years old.

He has lived and worked at the Erskine Veterans Village as the IT Manager over the past 30 years, after facing homelessness when returning from military service.

He told Clyde 1 that he lost 9 of his friends while he was serving in the Falklands War:

“For me - those friends, their time, their life stopped just on this heartbeat. They died and everything stopped.

“I think of myself – I have had the years since then: to be a dad, to be a granddad, to have some beautiful dogs, to travel, to see things. They will never ever have the chance to see things, because when they were the same age as me, they stopped.

“When I see now on the TV or hear on the radio that there is another service person killed, it’s so sad because there is another soul who just ... it ends for them.

He asks people across the country to participate in reflective minutes of silence. Bill says: “You may not have known anyone personally, but just stop for that minute or two minutes.

“Then, for you and for I – at the end of that 2 minutes silence – our life starts all over again and we go and get on with whatever we are doing. Those service people don’t.”

He told Clyde 1 that he suffered physical and mental trauma after coming out of the military. He spoke of the “camaraderie” and support “to be in a place like this, where there are so many people who just get you, who understand you.”

“Two old soldiers – you’d be surprised how much they can say to each other without actually talking. That’s the beauty of a place like Erskine. This is my favourite place in the world.”

Erskine supports veterans in Scotland by providing care for nearly 800 residents each year through care homes and a Veterans Village.

The charity’s HR director Sarah Bickerstaff also expressed gratitude for the Erskine Veterans Charity and spoke highly of her 7 years in the Royal Navy - where she met her husband and “made lifelong friends”.

She feels that the organisation is “a complete necessity. The love, care, compassion they get from the staff here is absolutely amazing. It’s hard not to be emotionally attached to every single member of staff and veteran at the charity here.”

She told Clyde 1: “We must never forget the sacrifices that people have made.”

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