ALLOA
WAR MEMORIAL
World War
1 & 2 - Detailed information
Compiled & Copyright Martin Edwards 2007
The
memorial stands in Bank Street, Alloa, and takes the form of the figure
of St Margaret, crowned and robed, standing above a group of three soldiers
carved as if half buried in mud standing on a cylindrical pedestal.
On a wall behind there is a recess containing eight inset name panels
listing those who gave their lives in World War 1 and World War 2. The
memorial was unveiled 28th September 1924 by Field Marshall The Earl
Haig and had cost £4,400 to erect. The sculptor was Mr Charles
D'Orville Pilkington Jackson and the architect Sir Robert Lorimer. One
of the three soldiers has an empty hand which clearly once had something
in it, this is the original description: "The bronze figure leans
forward, graceful and gentle, one tender hand protectively stretched
over the crouching figures below, engaged in the desperate business
of war - four soldiers in fighting order, one ahead of the others, cutting
a barbed-wire entanglement, one with arm strained to throw a bomb, and
two riflemen with fixed bayonets, ready to attack. For the central feature,
there is a figure symbolising Alloa, carrying a shield bearing the Burgh
coat of arms and wearing a mural crown, the idea is: 'The Thoughts of
the Town following her sons in battle.'" There are 386 names listed
for World War 1 on the 4 pairs of plaques, 116 names for World War 2
and 9 civilians from World War 2 on two pairs of plaques. Although the
men are listed by regiment/service thye have been merged into alphabetical
order for ease of reading and research.
PRO
PATRIA
TO
THE IMMORTAL MEMORY
AND
IN LOVING MEMORY
OF
THE MEN OF ALLOA
WHO
FELL IN THE GREAT WAR
1914 - 1918
AND
THOSE WHO GAVE
THEIR LIVES IN THE WAR OF
1939 - 1945
THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVERMORE
2009
| MULLIGAN |
Kevin John |
 Corporal
25151078, 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment. Killed in an ambush
in Helmand, southern Afghanistan, while a member of the Special
Forces Support Group when a bomb exploded in the path of their
armoured vehicle 6 August 2009. Aged 25. Born 4 December 1983.
Extract
from The Times (London, England), Monday, 10 August 2009,
Issue: 69710;
Another soldier has been killed in Helmand, the fifth this month,
the Ministry of Defence said yesterday. The soldier, from the
2nd Battalion, The Mercian Regiment, died after an explosion while
on patrol east of Gereshk in Helmand; 196 servicemen and women
have died in Afghanistan since 2001. Lieutenant-Colonel Mark Wenham,
spokesman for Task Force Helmand, said: "Each and every loss
that we sustain in Helmand sends reverberations throughout the
brigade. "Today we mourn the loss of a soldier who died working
to make Afghanistan a better place. He was prepared to make the
ultimate sacrifice,,displaying bravery that was second to none."
According to the MoD, the soldier had been on foot patrol when
an improvised explosive device went off. It happened two days
after three members of the Parachute Regiment were killed in an
ambush in southern Afghanistan. Corporal Kevin Mulligan, Lance
Corporal Dale Hopkins and Private Kyle Adams were killed when
their Jackal armoured vehicle was hit by an explosion north of
Lashkar Gah in Helmand province. Bob Ainsworth, the Defence Secretary,
said: "These men were highly gifted individuals at the forefront
of their profession, and their loss is a heavy blow." The
death toll of British soldiers in July was 22.
|
Last
updated:
21 February, 2023
|
