Research on the fifteen men listed in the section of the East Linton War Memorial that relates to WW II \u00a0has now been undertaken using information recorded in the Commonwealth War Graves data base.\u00a0 Three of the names are listed in a Memorial in Prestonkirk Church.\u00a0 One name, that of a John McNaughton is not listed on the Memorial in the Memorial Park. In addition, there is a family gravestone which mentions \u00a0a Robin (or Robert) Summerfield who is not listed on any of the two \u00a0East Linton memorials. There were similar discrepancies found when the names recorded for WW I,\u00a0 were researched in 2014. We now know that out a total of seventeen \u00a0men, \u00a016 men \u00a0died in the WWI II conflict and that one civilian was killed by the enemy as he carried out his \u00a0employment with the London and North Eastern Railway. Another civilian was killed when an aircraft from East Fortune crashed on the potting shed at Kingsburgh market garden in 1943 but this was not caused by enemy action. If it had been, an application to have the deceased listed as a war casualty could have been considered.<\/p>\n
The records give the details of five men who died while serving outwith the European area of conflict, later called the Forgotten Army. An age analysis has been possible for thirteen men. \u00a0\u00a0The name of William Craig has so far been difficult to research. A L\/Cpl William Craig of the 8th<\/sup> Battalion Royal Scots was married in Edinburgh Registry office on the 21st<\/sup> March 1940. He is referred to as a butcher. His wife was a Margaret Herkes, a domestic servant resident at 11 Boroughdale, Dunbar. ( The Courier report gives her address as Doune Avenue.) Her father was an Alexander Herkes , General Labourer, and her mother was an Agnes McKenzie. An entry in the Courier about the wedding discloses that he was the only son of Mr and Mrs J. \u00a0Craig of Kingsburgh, East Linton. The Marriage register gives his father\u2019s occupation as a Gardener and his mother\u2019s name as Annie Craig, nee Bald. It has not been possible to locate a reference to his death in the Commonwealth War Graves data base or on the Scottish Roll of Honour. The deaths of his parents in the Scotland\u2019s People records have not been found as having taken place in East Linton. There is a record for another L\/Cpl William Craig in the CWG data base but his family lived in Fife. Research continues.<\/p>\n The East Linton Horticultural Society have installed two large floral baskets at the \u00a0War Memorial to mark the 75th<\/sup> anniversary of VJ Day. Further displays will be installed as an Act of Remembrance.<\/p>\n David Affleck<\/p>\n 7th<\/sup> August 2020<\/p>\n