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6-11-2004 Scotsman 'We will miss them all as brothers in arms' By Gethin Chamberlain Defence Correspondent SHE stood there, sobbing uncontrollably, the ten red roses she had brought with her to the gates of the Black Watch barracks lying at her feet, a 12-year-old girl who had lost her father in a far away war, consumed with grief. "To Dad," the card on the flowers said. "Love you and miss you, love Kirstin." Kirstin Gray's father, Sergeant Stuart Gray, was dead, and she was inconsolable. She tried to read the other tributes that were already starting to arrive, but it was too much for her. Friends put their arms around her, and led her gently back to the car in which she had arrived. She and her mother Wendy and her ten-year-old brother Darren had learned the news only a few hours earlier; the worst fears of two other families were confirmed at about the same time. Together, apart, they grieved for the men who had gone. Private Paul Lowe, aged 19. Private Scott McArdle, 22. Sergeant Stuart Gray, 31. They died instantly, the army said, cut down by the suicide bomber who also claimed the life of their interpreter, who had been due to marry a few hours later and had put off the wedding to move up to Baghdad with the regiment. His name was not released, to save his family further trouble. In Iraq, at the regiment's temporary new base south of Baghdad, their commanding officer, Lt Col James Cowan, extended his sympathies to the families of the men who had died. "We will miss them all, as brothers in arms," he said. For a close-knit family such as the Black Watch, it was a painful blow. "These soldiers were our friends." But there was steel in his words. "While we feel this blow most keenly we are the Black Watch," he said, "and we will not be deterred from seeing our task through to a successful conclusion." Outside the barracks in Warminster, and at the regimental headquarters in Perth, more people came to lay their tributes and to pay their respects. They laid flowers, thistles, and even a Rangers' scarf. Like many of their friends in the regiment, the three dead soldiers came from Fife. Paul Lowe was from Kelty: a drummer in the regiment's pipe band, he was single, and had been in the army three years. Scott McArdle, a member of the elite reconnaissance team, from Glenrothes, had four years' service. Last night, it emerged the soldier's fiancée, Sarah McLaren, is expecting the couple's baby in two months' time. Stuart Gray was from Dunfermline. The eldest of the three, he attended Pitcorthie Primary School and Woodmill High School before joining the army 12 years ago and rising to the rank of sergeant in the mortar platoon. His mother, Mary Gray, was too upset to talk in public about his death, but she allowed the army to put out a statement on her behalf. "She is obviously deeply shocked by the news of the death of her son," it said, "yet that sadness is tinged with her pride in a much-loved son who was a member of his local regiment. "He was an experienced and professional soldier, a loving husband, father, son and brother, and a proud member of the Black Watch." Her thoughts, it said, were with his young family and with the families of the other soldiers who were killed and injured in the attack. Craig Lowe, the 18-year-old brother of Paul Lowe, said they had last spoken only on Sunday. His brother had promised to be careful, he said. "When he found out he was being moved, he just phoned us up and said: 'I know I'm going to a dangerous place, I'll just have to take more care. That's my job - I've just got to get on with it'," he said. "He was just saying he was missing us all, that he couldn't wait to come home to see us and hoped he would be home for Christmas," he said. Craig is also a soldier in the Black Watch: it was his brother who had inspired him to join up, though he was no fan of this war. "What he lived for was his job in the army," he said. "But he said he didn't think he should be there because the regiment has already done their time over there, the first time, so he didn't think they should be back. "But he just took it on the chin and went back and got on with his job." The McArdles were, in the main, too upset to talk. "The whole family is in pieces," said his cousin Michelle McArdle. "He liked going out with his friends, he was a popular guy. I think he always wanted to go into the army." The bodies will be flown home next week. At the Black Watch headquarters, Captain Bob Reid summed up how all who knew them felt: "We are left saddened by the news that we have lost three friends," he said.
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................................................................................................................. Copyright ©2004 Gethin Chamberlain. All rights reserved. |
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