Neilston war memorial 600 mile sponsored walk to France
TWO Neilston men are to walk to northern France in an attempt to raise £25,000 for what they believe is a long overdue war memorial.
Article Source: Neilston War Memorial Association
Last Updated: 29 July 2013 7:19
Jimmy Higgins and his cousin John McGuire will set out from Neilston Cross in East Renfrewshire on their mission to Vimy Ridge to raise funds for the tribute.
Neilston, where Mr Higgins was born, is one of the few Scottish villages without a memorial commemorating local residents who gave their lives for their country.
It has been estimated at least 156 men from the area died on service in 1914-18, out of a population of between 3000 and 4000.
On August 1, Mr Higgins, 61, and his cousin, John McGuire, managing director of Phoenix Motors in Paisley, will set off for Vimy Ridge, in northern France, where their grandfather, also Jimmy, was gassed in 1917 while part of the Canadian Highland Light Infantry.
They will walk 250 miles to Hull, catch a ferry to Zeebrugge in Belgium, and then walk the final 75 miles to Vimy Ridge, where they expect to be joined by another cousin, Paddy Higgins, who will have cycled either from Calais or Zeebrugge.
Mr Higgins, a former teacher who recently published his debut novel, Milltown, set in a fictionalised version of Neilston, said: "One of the readers of my book told me of small New Zealand village called Bulls, which built a monument to its solitary participant on the Western Front – a horse called Bess, which actually survived the conflict.
"It is not an enviable situation for Neilston not to have a war memorial. I did a book signing in Stranraer, where it seems they have no fewer than four memorials.
"The 99th anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War is coming up. It was a sobering thought to say the least that in August 2014, while the centenary is marked across Europe and the former British Empire, the dead of Neilston would in effect be ignored. It seemed shameful and deeply embarrassing.
"When I wrote Milltown it was commonly believed that 96 men from Neilston had been killed on active service but recent research indicates that the total is actually much higher.
The fund stands at £15,000 and all donations received by the two men will go towards the memorial, while the men will bear the cost of all expenses incurred en route.
A local campaign is seeking to get the monument erected in the village's Main Street, next to St Thomas's Church, from where Mr Higgins and Mr McGuire will set off in a fortnight's time.
A design, combining submissions by local primary school pupils, Kyla Fergus, 10, and Joseph Cairney, 11, has already been approved.
Mr Higgins, who has so far contributed more than £500 from sales of his book, said: "The men who gave their lives all those decades ago deserve to have their names commemorated."
Donations can be made Via
https://mydonate.bt.com/donation/donation.html
Web site and facebook pages
http://www.freewebs.com/theneilstonwarmemorial/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Neilston-War-Memorial-Association/241406065911329
Please come along on 11am Thrus 1st of Aug to see the lads off!
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