THE River Devon has been the site of many incidents and tragedies over the years but one of the most poignant involved two children from Fishcross in the early 1940s.

On the evening of Tuesday, July 15, 1941, 8-year-old David Walker of Benview Terrace in Fishcross and his 10-year-old friend Alexander Irvin Baird, also of Benview Terrace, along with two other boys, left their homes between 5 o'clock and 6 o'clock and headed down to the River Devon.

It was their intention to catch minnows that summer evening and around 500 yards south of the farm at Kersiepow they stopped at their chosen spot where there was a deep pool around 10 feet deep.

David decided to undress and went into the water near to the pool to have a swim and to cool off but he lost his footing and fell into the deep water.

He quickly got into difficulties and without a thought for his own safety, Alexander jumped in fully clothed to help his friend.

He too soon found he was out of his depth and both boys disappeared beneath the surface.

The other two boys, who by this time were frantically shouting for their friends, ran for help.

They quickly explained to their parents what had happened and they arrived on the scene minutes later.

However there was no trace of the youngsters.

The County Police were informed and Constable McIntyre from Sauchie along with Constable MacIntosh and Constable Mann from Tillicoultry soon arrived and organised a rescue operation.

At 8 o'clock, the body of Alexander was recovered from the pool, and although CPR was carried out on him, it was too late.

A large tree was removed from the bottom of the river by members of the Home Guard from Devon Colliery and others to help with the search.

At 10 o'clock that evening two men from Tillicoultry appeared in their swimming trunks, dived into the pool and they finally located the body of David. Again, resuscitation was carried out but to no avail.

The bodies of the boys were taken by ambulance to the pit head baths of Devon Colliery where they were examined by Dr William B. Ross of Tillicoultry.

They were then taken to the mortuary at the County Hospital in Alloa.

Needless to say, the village was in shock when the news spread, but locals rallied round the families of the boys, who were both buried a few days later.