2024

This website is dedicated to those who were sacrificed in World War II.

For most of 1996, Sue and I and our three children were fortunate to leave our home in Adelaide, Australia, for a time and live in Peebles, Scotland.  We visited Tain, Dornoch Firth, and Alness for the first time and met Bob and Dorothy Simpson, who lived at the north end of the Ness of Portnaculter, the promontory which juts out from the south shore of Dornoch Firth just west of where the A9 carriageway crosses the Dornoch Firth Bridge.  Dorothy put me in touch with local WWII historian and sleuth John Fleming.
I stood with John on the lay-by on the north-east side of the A9 as he pointed to the west where, in 1945, he had seen the burnt wreck of the crashed W6009, offshore Ferrytown Pier slipway.
On returning to Adelaide in 1997, John and I exchanged letters for a time.  He sent me information he searched out about our Crew's accident.
Sue and I were back in Scotland in 2017.  We visited various sites again.  But we were with Sue's family and I was not able to catch up with John.
We returned to the Dornoch Firth in September 2019.  I had been introduced to Kenneth McAulay, Royal British Legion Scotland  Golspie Branch's  Chairman.  We met at the place where the Memorial stands. The idea for a Memorial came to us as we discussed how important it is to remember all who were sacrificed in war.After returning to Adelaide, I settled the design of the memorial plaque and searched for a firm to make it.  I found Scotland's Bravest Manufacturing Company.  Scotland’s leading social enterprise and a manufacturer of road signs, they are a Royal British Legion Industries partner and provide life-changing support to military veterans and others with disabilities.
By early-2020, we were ready to install the Memorial and hold a dedication service in the summer.  But along came COVID.  Our plans had to be put on hold.  By 2024 we were back on track with the service set for August.
As is often the case, good thing came from a bad one.  The delay gave me time to search for family.  I found family for all but one of the Crew.  Now, a number of Crew family will be able to be at the service.  And, hopefully, there will be a video record of the dedication service for family who cannot be there.
I hope people who pass by will view the Memorial and email me so I can point them to this website, which I will maintain for as long as I am about.
I am very grateful to those who helped make the Memorial possible -
* John Fleming, then of Tain, who saw the crashed W6009 and researched the accident for me
* Bob and Dorothy Simpson, then of Ness of Portnaculter, for introducing me to John
* Forbie Urquart, then of Tain, who visited the injured Crew being treated at R N A Hospital Invergordon and provided information to
     John
* Scotland's Bravest Manufacturing Company, Renfrewshire, whose people made the memorial plaque
* Alex Lowe and his team at Emac Engineering Ltd , Invergordon, who gifted the memorial stand
* the people at Transport Scotland and BEAR Scotland who helped me get approval for placement of the memorial
* Kenneth McAulay, Chairman of Royal British Legion Scotland's Golspie Branch, who "made it happen"
     with help from his Golspie and Tain branches colleagues
* Major General Patrick Marriott CB CBE DL, who introduced me to Kenneth 

* Wing Commander Adrian Dyer, chaplain at RAF Lossiemouth, for conducting the dedication service
* John Mackay, of The Highland Council, who introduced me to Major General Marriott
* Jason Ubych at Tain & District Museum, Castel Brae, Tain
* Morag and Mike at Alness Civic and Heritage Centre, 102 High Street, Shillinghill, Alness
* Invergordon Museum, 140 High Street, Invergordon 
* all our Crews' families, who have been very supportive and provided much information about their
     loved ones
* Caroline McMorran at The Northern Times for her 5 July 2024 article about the dedication service
* Jim and Steve Leslie, for their History of Highland Hospitals
* everyone who helped facilitate the dedication service
* those who gave their time to attend the service, including serving officers from RAF Lossiemouth
* Frank's parents and sister and my parents for passing down the obligation to remember
* Sue, who put me on the right path to tracking down Crew family (and generally)

Frank Pepper
Flying Officer Francis Laurence Pepper, my Uncle, had an older brother, Richard Jordan, and sister, Hazel Ellen.  I'm Richard's son.

Finding Family

After our return from the UK in September 2019, by early-2020, I had had the Memorial plaque made and Alex Lowe had gifted us its stand. Kenneth McAulay and I planned to install the Memorial in the Spring of 2020 and dedicate it later, perhaps in 2021, so Sue and I and, I hoped, other family could travel there for it.   In December 2019, I was able to contact family of two of the Crew.  Then, along came COVID.  Out the windows went everyone's plans.  Scotland was particularly hard hit.  Sue and I were lucky enough to be days away from signing a contract to build our last home.  So, 2020 and 2021 passed without me finding any other family.   Early-2022 included an operation for me and months of getting better.   Somehow, most of 2023 went by without me achieving much.  But I suspected 2024 would be the Memorial's year and so, towards the end of 2023, I began searching in earnest for family of Our Crew.  I searched Crew records.  I cold-called lists of numbers from the White Pages.   I searched family trees and newspapers.  I made progress but not so much.  The, Sue suggested I look for graves.  So, I emailed cemeteries and asked them to pass on a letter from me to family of people who had passed away.  Jack Laing was the last of Our Crew whose family I found.  I had drawn a blank.  I was sad, thinking that one of Our Crew would be "left out".   So, a week or so ago, on a whim, I re-visited what had seemed a "dead end".   Imagine my elation when Dense called me this morning!  Sadly though, I was too late for any of her family to be able to get to the Service.  It is for such family that I have arranged for the Service to be professionally video recorded.  When we return from the UK, I will put it here or on YouTube for family now and future.  It is a testament to the next words that everyone I contacted - not only family - was interested in what we are doing for Our Crew and very supportive. 

"LEST WE FORGET"