THE names of soldiers who fell during the First and Second World Wars once again grace the ‘Haer Stane’ war memorial in Tullibody.

A roll of honour plaque was unveiled by Provost Tina Murphy at a special ceremony held on Saturday, organised by the Clackmannanshire branch of the Royal British Legion Scotland (RBLS).

The memorial, found just off Lychgate Road, comprises a massive irregular boulder with a rough hewn rectangular pillar on top with a raised Celtic style cross carved to the front face. It formerly contained a plaque with the names of the soldiers who died in the Great War and the Second World War. That plaque had been removed several years ago and never replaced, until the legion was contacted by a local resident.

Branch secretary, Robert Hunter said, “We approached Tullibody Community Council to see if anything had been done previously. After much discussion and with some guidance from Forth Valley College, we were put in touch with Historic Scotland’s local workshop. They gladly came on board to provide time and resources to get the plaques produced and mounted.” The ceremony was organised by the legion in conjunction with Tullibody Community Council and the Tullibody History Group.

Among the special guests were St Bernadette’s pupils, Jamie Earl of Mar and Kellie, Veterans Minister Keith Brown and Kenneth Tullis, whose family originally donated the land where the memorial stands.

A prayer and blessing was given by Rev Bill Izatt and Father Michael Freyne while a wreath was laid on behalf of the RBLS by chairman John Barrett.

Mr Barrett said afterwards, “Gratitude must be paid to Andy Ward of Quality Worktops, Stirling who donated the marble and to Ian Walker and his team at Historic Scotland who kindly carried out the work on the plaques and also mounted them on the Haer Stane.” Mr Ward said, “As a small family run business, we are extremely proud to be able to assist with the memorial plaques being installed in Clackmannanshire. It has always been our policy to support the uniformed services.” The RBLS now plan to restore the Lychgate entrance in time for the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War next year.