
Alness War Memorial
Alness War Memorial [Photo courtesy of Alness Heritage Society]

Left hand side - facing the Perrins Centre.

Front view.

Right hand side.
Rev Rob Jones, Joan Ross, Farquhar Ewing, Fay Munro and Rev Michael Macdonald at the refurbished Memorial which was rededicated on 10 September 2016.
Alness War Memorial
THE GREAT WAR 1914 - 1918
THIS STONE COMMEMORATES THE MEN OF ALNESS AND WEST ROSSKEEN WHO AT THEIR COUNTRY'S CALL WENT FORTH TO DEFEND THEIR HOMES AND EMPIRE, ENDURED UNTOLD SUFFERINGS AND PASSED FROM THE SIGHT OF MEN BY THE PATH OF DUTY AND SACRIFICE.
THEIR DUST IS IN THE DESERTS AND THE DEEP SEA AND YET TRIUMPHANT O'ER THE GRAVE THEIR SPIRITS NEVER SLEEP BUT GUARD THE FREEDOM WHICH THEY DIED TO SAVE.
1914-1918
1393 PTE COLIN BAIN 4th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
1734 L/CPL J BEALE 4th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
242323 PTE JOHN CAMPBELL 7th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
150041 PTE KENNETH CAMPBELL 11th CANADIANS
1142 PTE THOMAS CAMPBELL 2nd SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
LIEUT & QM ALEX CLARK MC 9th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
267278 PTE JAMES A. CORMACK 6th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
9392 PTE HENRY CONNELL 1st SCOTS GUARDS
2948 PTE DAVID DARLING 4th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
7576 PTE GEORGE DOUGLAS 2nd SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
24513 PTE JAMES FARQUHAR 4th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
242186 PTE THOMAS J FERGUSON 5th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
55311 PTE D FINLAYSON 18th H L I
36805 GUNNER JOHN FRASER 121st BATTRY RFA
37331 QM SERGT RODERICK J. FRASER 178th Cy MGC
10102 PTE HECTOR FRASER 2nd SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
8132 L/CPL WILLIAM FRASER 2nd SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
1706 PTE JOHN GAIR 4th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
1760 PTE MARK GRANT 5th ARGYLE & SUTH HDRS
202004 L/CPL HUGH GRANT 6th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
200126 CPL ROBERT GRANT 4th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
9317 PTE ROBERT GRAY 2nd SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
1939-1945
2822647 PTE DANIEL AIRLIE 4th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
2820993 PTE JOHN S BAIN 4th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
345496 SERGT VICTOR BROWN RAF
V7795 CMM GEORGE FOWLER RCNVR
14214623 PTE JOHN R FRASER 6th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
1551463 LAC WILLIAM J FRASER RAF
LIEUT WILLIAM D D GAMMIE 5th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
1914 - 1918
13325 PTE DUNCAN C. GUNN 15th HLI
6698 PTE D HENDERSON 5th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
MAJOR J M HENDERSON MC 4th GORDON HIGHLANDERS
LIEUTENANT A HILL 9th HLI
3311 PTE DONALD HOPE 4th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
1900 SERGT N KENNEDY 4th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
40395 PTE WM MACBEAN 7th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
1901 L/CPL FINLAY MACULLOCH 4th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
995 PTE DAVID C MACDONALD 5th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
1290 PTE HUGH MACDONALD 4th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
36189 CPL J MACDONALD 7th DUKE OF CORNWALL'S LI
40569 PTE J MACDONALD 2nd R L SCOTS FUS
22251 PTE DONALD MACGHEE GORDON HIGHLANDERS
1055 SERGT GEORGE MACKAY 4th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
6988 PTE COLIN MACKELLAR 5th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
201735 PTE ALEX MACKENZIE 6th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
1921 SERGT D MACKENZIE 4th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
422795 PTE D MACKENZIE 29th CANADIANS
2nd LIEUT GEORGE A MACKENZIE 8th GORDON HIGHLANDERS
200532 PTE HUGH J MACKENZIE 4th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
20976 L/CPL SIMON MUNRO 4th GRENADIER GUARDS
1914 - 1918
266320 PTE J MACKENZIE 6th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
1012 SERGT D A MACLEAN 4th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
3096 PTE JOHN MACLEAY 7th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
242279 L/CPL R MACLENNAN 6th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
27705 SERGT DAVID MACLEOD 6th H L I
1485 PTE HUGH MACLEOD 4th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
1659 PTE LACHLAN MACLEOD 6th ROYAL HIGHLANDERS
1735 PTE THOMAS MACLEOD 4th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
7382 PTE J MANSON 2nd SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
1098 CPL A D MATHESON M G SGT C M R N Z
44132 RIFLEMAN A MATHESON 1st C I N Z
40223 PTE JAMES MATHESON 4th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
7611 PTE RODERICK MATHESON 2nd SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
200338 CPL J W MILLER 6th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
278811 GUNNER J F MINTY 36th BATTRY RFA
1389 PTE GEORGE MORRISON 14th A I F
201919 L/CPL GEORGE MUNRO 2nd SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
40234 L/CPL JOHN MUNRO 2nd SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
1866 PTE JOHN MUNRO 4th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
1899 PTE MURDO MUNRO 4th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
1939 - 1945
1596536 L/BDR NEIL MACMULLAN RA
656656 W/O DUGALD J MACRAE RAF
1366356 FL/SERGT IAN T MACRAE RAF
Fx80214 AIR MECH FRANK G MATTHEWS RN
1822930 SERGT WILLIAM J G MIDDLETON RAF
14226495 TPR RODERICK MUNRO 15/19 HUSSARS
2817975 L/CPL KENNETH McR SINCLAIR 2nd SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
1939 - 1945
SISTER ANNIE P. KERR MN
BOSUN RODERICK MACDONALD MN
318086 L/CPL JAMES MACKAY 2nd CAMERON Hldrs
14402094 TPR DONALD J K MACKENZIE 6th AIRBORNE
2815904 GDSM WILLIAM MACKENZIE 1st SCOTS GUARDS
SEAMAN DUNCAN MACLEAN MN
P/Kx 84974 STOKER ALEXANDER J MACLENNAN RN
1914 - 1918
200294 PTE WILLIAM MUNRO 4th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
1717 PTE ROBERT MURRAY 4th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
1322 PTE IAN ROBERTSON 4th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
202011 PTE PETER ROBERTSON 4th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
10855 SERGT DUNCAN ROSS 4th CANADIANS
5041 SGT MAJ HUGH ROSS 1st SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
40015 PTE GEORGE ROSS 2nd SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
1810 PTE HUGH ROSS 4th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
1970 PTE HENRY ROSS 4th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
6182 PTE GILBERT ROSS 7th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
1755518 PTE GEORGE ROSS 310th AMERICAN FORCE
27137 PTE ARTHUR SCOTT 7th CAMERON HIGHLANDERS
22773 L/CPL J S SCOTT 7th ARGYLE & SUTH HDRS
25890 PTE ALEXANDER SMITH 5th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
30445 PTE ALEX R STEVENSON 5th GORDON HIGHLANDERS
1032 PTE DONALD STEWART 8th SOUTHLAND REG NZ
6702 PTE JOHN F STRACHAN 5th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
28594 PTE GEORGE M WATSON 7th ROYAL SCOTS
200044 PTE DAVID WILLIAMSON 4th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
200065 SERGT DONALD WILLIAMSON 4th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
16006 PTE GEORGE WILLIAMSON 6th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
40934 PTE ISAAC WILLIAMSON 5th CAMERON HIGHLANDERS
Northern Ireland 8th July 1979
244384449 PTE A.M. MacMILLAN Q.O. Hlnds
1939 - 1945
9337773 DVR WILLIAM STEVENSON 5th RHA
2825517 DMR DAVID STEWART 2nd SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
2939924 CPL HARRY M STODDART 4th CAMERON HIGHLANDERS
2812443 PTE WILLIAM SWANSON MM 4th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
7609583 PTE DAVID A TAYLOR RAOC
2822633 PTE WILLIAM THOM 4th SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
1461543 GNR ALEXANDER WINCHESTER RA
On 10 September 2016 a rededication ceremony was held at Alness War Memorial following a refurbishment.
A new precision steam cleaning process to remove moss and algae from the lettering was used to transform the memorial - which was barely legible - after Alness natives from home and abroad gave generously to a fund set up to pay for the work.
Alness Community Association launched the appeal to refurbish the 20ft high memorial at the east end of the High Street after it was decided it would be funded in the same way the memorial had been paid for in 1920 - by public subscription. Extra donations meant a fund was in place to pay for the upkeep of the memorial and any further restoration work it may require. The total raised was £8500.
The service was intended as a 'thank you' to all contributors.
The restoration was carried out by conservation stonemason John Maclean of Dingwall and took around four days to complete. The steam cleaner was bought specifically for the task as it was thought it would be less damaging to the sandstone than power washing, which took the surface off the memorial when that was carried out back in the 1980s.
After the great losses of World War 1, the Alness War Memorial was erected through public subscription and unveiled in 1921 to commemorate those from Alness and Wester Rosskeen who had been lost.
In 1949, following another public subscription, the names of those who died in World War 2 were added and the memorial rededicated. In total it now lists 114 local people who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country - 85 in WW1, 28 in WW2 and one in the Northern Ireland conflict.
The whole structure needed careful cleaning, all the joints re-pointed and other much needed restoration work. The association also received support from Highland Council and SSE sub-contractors BAM Nuttall and Siemens, who were working nearby at Fyrish.
[Text courtesy of The Ross-shire Journal]
In September 2016 the Ross-shire Journal reported on an entry in the restored memorial, and details are reproduced courtesy of the Editor.
Annie Kerr was the only woman with her name inscribed on Alness War Memorial. She lost her life at the age of 51 in the sinking of the SS Ceramic which was being used as a military hospital boat when it was torpedoed by the Germans during World War 2.
The boat was carrying 656 people and sailing across the Atlantic from Liverpool to Australis when tragedy struct, overnight, on December 6-7, 1942. Passengers and crew scrambled into lifeboats following the attack, close to the Azores, but many of them capsized amid a storm and there was only one survivor. Sister Kerr, who lived at Coulhill, Alness, was among those lost.
Sister Kerr, who was born and brought up in Lochinver, completed her nurse training in England before moving north to work as a staff sister in the Ross Memorial Hospital in Dingwall. Her name is inscribed on both the Alness and Lochinver war memorials.
She was awarded five medals for her work - the 1939-45 Star, Atlantic Star, Pacific Star, War medal 1939-45 and British Red Cross for War Service 1914-1918. She was the eldest daughter of Mr and Mrs Andrew Kerr of Ledbeg, Lairg.