Bainsford war memorial project: Work starts as daughter of WW2 soldier cuts turf

Isobel Turnbull, 78, joined members of the committee behind the Bainsford war memorial project to cut the turn and mark the start of the work in Dawson Park.

Isobel was just over a year old when her father, David Allan – a private with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders – was killed by a sniper’s bullet in Germany in 1945.

He was just 20 years old when he died, leaving Isobel’s mum, Jenny, a widow at the same young age.

Isobel has no memories of her dad, but she has visited his grave in the Reichswald Forest war cemetery, Kleve, to remember and pay tribute.

She thinks that a war memorial close to home will be a fitting tribute to the men of Bainsford who lost their lives and she was delighted to be part of the campaign to get a local memorial.

She said: “I have visited my dad’s grave four times but it will be lovely to have somewhere local to come and remember him.

“I really feel very emotional today.”

The pain of David’s loss can be felt in keepsakes that are now in Isobel’s possession, including his Glengarry, his medals and a wallet containing the telegram his family received on his death.

There is also a handwritten poem and epitaph, written by his heartbroken mother, carefully preserved along with a postcard addressed to his ‘darling baby daughter’.

For Councillor Robert Bissett, the chair of Bainsford War Memorial Association, it was an important step in the journey to get the memorial built to honour the 244 sons of Bainsford who never came home.

As well as local fundraising, they received £65,000 from the council’s Common Good Fund and £10,000 from Community Choices.

“It was a hard slog but we have got a great team and we have all pulled together and managed this,” he said.

The next step will be the foundations being dug, then a path put in before the monument is finally erected.

There will be an opening ceremony on June 10 to mark the occasion.