Service held at Invershin cemetery to dedicate Celtic cross in memory of World War I hero
A dedication service for a new Celtic cross took place in Invershin Cemetery last Tuesday, May 7, to honour Lieutenant Colonel William Herbert Anderson VC, Highland Light Infantry, writes Colin Gilmour.
Lt Col Anderson was awarded the Victoria Cross on March 25, 1918, for his outstanding courage and bravery when killed at Maricourt, France, whilst leading his battalion against a German-held village and timber yard.
He was initially buried near to where he died and, as was the custom, an oak Celtic cross was erected at his grave by his men.
However, once the Commonwealth War Graves Commission established their war cemetery at Peronne, near Maricourt, Lt Col Anderson and all the other deceased were moved into permanent graves. Each were given their own headstones - making the original wooden cross redundant.
In 1909 Lt Col Anderson, who was one of four brothers all of whom were killed in World War I, had married Gertrude Gilmour of Rosehall.
Now his widow, she asked if the original oak cross could be brought home to Scotland. The request was granted and she travelled out to France to collect the cross and bring it home. She wished to have it erected in Invershin cemetery, the closest to her home in Rosehall.
When she died in 1967, she was buried in the grave over which the cross stood. The family looked after the cross from the 1920s onwards. However, with the passage of time, maintenance of the five foot high oak cross became increasingly difficult and in 2022 the family decided that, for its future preservation, it needed to be indoors, particularly since it is reputed to be the only one of its kind still surviving in Scotland.
In 2023 it was decided to donate the oak cross for safekeeping to the Royal Highland Fusiliers’ Museum in Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow where it is now on display.
The family naturally wished to replace the original in order to maintain a local lasting memory to their beloved Victoria Cross soldier. A new marble cross of the same design though with slightly different inscriptions has been installed in Invershin where Gertrude Anderson is buried.
On May 7, Rev Lizzie Campbell conducted a service in Invershin cemetery to dedicate the new cross, while Lord- Lieutenant Major General Patrick Marriott read the Citation for the award of the Victoria Cross to Colonel Anderson. Lt Col Colin Gilmour, Rosehall gave a short history of the cross.
All four living grandchildren of Lieutenant Colonel Anderson VC took part in the service and pipe tunes were played by Major Jim Stout, Queen’s Own Highlanders
Wreaths were laid by members of the family as well as Deputy Lieutenant Christine Mackay on behalf of Sutherland Lieutenancy.
