Kinlochbervie pupils commemorate local WWI hero

On Saturday 12th September, a cairn in memory of Robert McBeath VC was unveiled at a ceremony in Kinlochbervie.

The cairn was built by Kinlochbervie High School pupils over three days under the instruction of a master dry stone waller. The site is also planned to include an interpretative panel in the near future. The project was funded by the Highland 2007 Legacy Fund and The Highland Council’s North, West and Central Sutherland Ward discretionary budget.

Robert McBeath VC was a local lad who signed up to fight in the First World War at the age of 16 and went on to win the Victoria Cross for conspicuous bravery. After the war he emigrated to Vancouver where he joined the police force. He was shot dead while on duty in 1922, at the age of 24.

At the cairn ceremony, Bruce Coughlan, a musician from Vancouver sang a specially penned song in memory of McBeath and Kinlochbervie pupils read poetry and played laments on the bagpipe.

After the ceremony an exhibition on McBeath’s life was held in the High School where a tribute to McBeath was sent over especially from the Vancouver Chief of Police, to the citizens of Kinlochbervie.

The school estimated that there was between 60 and 100 people present at the unveiling and exhibition which is a large number for such a small school and a real accomplishment. While doing research for the project they were in close contact with members of the Vancouver Police Department who invited them to Vancouver to hold a joint McBeath exhibition with them. The school plans to make this visit in June next year with six pupils representing Kinlochbervie.