New Garden of Remembrance opens in Carluke

The short service, held in Market Square, saw scores of people brave the bitter cold to pay tribute to the brave servicemen who gave up their lives for others.

Provost Eileen Logan welcomed everyone to the service before Rev Dr Irene John, of the United Reformed Church, led the public in a short prayer.

The Garden of Remembrance has received a good reception from relatives of those men who fought and, in many cases, died for their country.

Agnes Dougan’s father John McEwan was a member of the 155th Field Regiment (Lanarkshire Yeomanry) when he was captured during the Japanese invasion of Singapore.

As a POW he was sent to work in the Kinkaseki copper mine on the island of Taiwan and he was liberated in August 1945.

He later wrote a much-acclaimed book on the horrors of war entitled Out of the Depths of Hell; he died in 2008.

Agnes said: “I think it is a fitting tribute to remember the people who died; I would hope that this would become an annual event.

For more on this story pick up a copy of the Carluke Gazette which is in the shops now.