December 21st 2013 marks the 25th anniversary of the Lockerbie bombing.
Pan Am Flight 103 from London Heathrow to John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York lit up our northern skyline when it blew up over the small Scottish town of Lockerbie on Wednesday 21st December 1988.
All 243 passengers and 16 crew members were killed in the bombing, along with 11 Lockerbie residents who died when a section of the Boeing 747 aircraft hit Sherwood Crescent.
Dryfesdale cemetery (Lockerbie cemetery)
A memorial bearing the names of all the victims is situated in the special garden of remembrance at Dryfesdale Cemetery, Lockerbie
Three large grey granite blocks bear the names of all the victims whilst further stones, plaques and memorials are dedicated to the memory of certain individuals such as the pilot and co-pilot.
Dryfesdale lodge
The former cemetery caretaker’s cottage is now the Dryfesdale Lodge Visitors’ Centre which opened on 25 October 2003.
The Dryfesdale Lodge Visitors’ Centre is not only a memorial to the disaster but a tribute to the community of Lockerbie. Since opening, the centre has received many thousands of visitors from home and abroad.
Memorial window
A memorial window designed by John Clark of Glasgow is installed in the Lesser Hall at Lockerbie Town Hall. It depicts the flags of all the nations who lost citizens in the bombing of flight 103.
Arlington National cemetery, Virginia
Over 180 of the victims were American and a memorial cairn of red sandstone stands in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. The blocks, one for each life lost, were quarried from Corsehill in Annan, Dumfriesshire.
25th Anniversary plans
Memorial services will be held at Dryfesdale Cemetery in Lockerbie where Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond and Lord Wallace, Advocate General for Scotland and former Scottish Liberal Democrat leader will attend.
At the same time as commemorations at Arlington National Cemetery in America, a service will be held at Westminster Abbey attended by Scotland’s Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael. Scotland Office minister David Mundell will attend the US ceremony.
More information
Scottish Daily Record – Plans for Lockerbie 25th Anniversary.
Wikipedia – Pan Am Flight 103