Features / Poignant remembrance service in Bressay hears of some of the devastating losses during WW 1 and 2
A SERVICE of rededication was held in Bressay on Sunday afternoon for the island’s two war memorials following their recent refurbishment, writes Davie Gardener.
Bressay was one of the first communities in Shetland to commission a war memorial following World War I, with theirs being originally unveiled in 1920.
The two memorials, one commemorating names of Bressay residents lost in World War I, and the second dedicated to its dead from World War II, are both made from Italian marble and set into the walls of the now closed and privately owned Bressay church.
The memorials were formally rededicated by local resident and civil celebrant Hazel Anderson who, together with husband Robin Hunter, are also the current owners of the building.
During the service Bressay’s list of war dead was read aloud by ex-Lord Lieutenant Sir John Scott, while young Bressay resident Patty Mason recited a World War I poem.
Following the short service, attended by a large group of islanders and held in unseasonal bright, calm conditions, two wreaths were laid at the site by Lord Lieutenant Lindsay Tulloch– a Bressay resident himself – followed by the emotive strains of the Last Post.
The service was followed by a talk in the island’s cafe delivered by local historian Jon Sandison who told the stories of just some of the 36 names contained on the two memorials – 16 names from WW1 and 20 from WW2.
Inevitably these numbers represent a significant level of losses for such a small island community, one which, over past decades, has consistently averaged a total population of less than 400 people.
Among the stories Jon Sandison recounted during the afternoon was that of brothers James, Thomas and Bertram Smith from the tiny hamlet of Heogan at the north end of Bressay, all of whom were lost in separate incidents at sea during World War II.
As a result of this devastating family and community loss their mother, Isabella Blance (formerly Smith), had been asked to unveil the original memorial, on which their names are listed, back in 1952.
A somewhat unique name also included on the World War II memorial is that of Catherine Sutherland (known as Kitty), unique in the sense that she is the only female on the list of local casualties.
Kitty (nee Strachan), who was only 22 at the time of her death, was the young, Bressay born wife of Archie Sutherland, a lighthouse-keeper stationed at the south light in Fair Isle.
On the 8 December 1941 she was busy washing dishes in their kitchen in the lighthouse accommodation, with her 18-month-old daughter, June, playing at her feet, when a German aircraft strafed the building(s) with machine gun fire, presumably aiming to knock out the light and thus impact on and endanger shipping in the area.
One of the bullets smashed through the kitchen window, killing Kitty instantly. Her tiny daughter was only slightly injured by flying debris.
As a poignant and visible reminder of that day, and further tragic action that was to follow shortly afterwards there, the resulting bullet holes from the attack are still visible in the concrete structure of the lighthouse today, along with a commemorative plaque.
Kitty’s younger sister Barbara Smith (93) who still lives on Bressay, was only nine at the time and the youngest of a family of eleven. She recalls the family hearing the news of her older sister’s loss.
“It was a Monday night close to Christmas,” she said. “Me and my older sister Molly were carrying on a bit with a lot of giggling and noisy high jinks taking place…. as bairns do. We were excited as it was almost Christmas.
“Our father, who was very superstitious, told us off in no uncertain terms, saying we had to settle down as our behaviour could be a sign that something bad was likely to happen and if it went on no good would come of it”.
Not long afterwards a knock came to the door, and a telegram was delivered to tell them that Kitty had been killed.
Yet another tragedy among so many at the time that devastated both the families directly concerned and the wider communities they lived in.
It needs to be remembered that behind every name listed on every war memorial there was once a living, breathing person, someone who was loved, someone who had a wider story that ended in tragedy, loss and heartbreak, but one that also left behind memories that will hopefully never be forgotten.
As the saying goes “They died so that we might live.” As such they made the ultimate sacrifice!!
So, on this Remembrance Day it was both important and poignant to see Bressay’s physical and visual tribute to their fallen from two devastating world wars fully restored and rededicated in their memories, and to hear first-hand just some of their stories recounted within the community they once lived in.
Lest we forget!!
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