On December 21, 1988, terror rained down on a small Scots town. Yesterday, its residents gathered to remember those events IT is a town which, 20 years later, wants to return to being simply "Lockerbie". Nothing more, nothing less.
On December 21, 1988, terror rained down on a small Scots town. Yesterday, its residents gathered to remember those events
IT is a town which, 20 years later, wants to return to being simply "Lockerbie". Nothing more, nothing less.
Yesterday, on the anniversary of the bombing which robbed it of its normality, there were two pictures of this south-west Scotland community on display.
One was from the past: the indelible images of carnage that was the aftermath of the atrocity. The other was from the present: a legacy born not of the violence but of the union of two communities by shared grief.
Those in the town speak of friendships forged with the families of the Syracuse students - many of whom died in the attack on Pan Am flight 103 - and how they are always welcome in the small rural town. Yet for many residents the disaster is still too painful to speak of.
And while George Stobbs, now 74, the police inspector in charge in 1988, gives far fewer than the 33 inteviews he went through in one week at the 10th anniversary, he is still asked to recount details.
He agrees it is another duty he has to carry out in the far-stretching wake of the bombing, even now, in retirement.
The legacy that many would prefer is that which links the two seats of education in Syracuse and Lockerbie. A scholarship programme sees two students from Lockerbie Academy study at the university each year.
Lockerbie minister, the Rev Sandy Stoddart, said one student told him this was "the light shining in the darkness".
The minister spoke as hundreds of locals gathered at ceremonies at Dryfesdale and Tundergarth churches.
Mr Stoddart told the congregation at Dryfesdale: "I have printed 270 names on the back of the order of service. This is a list of those who died.
"But it is not a list of the victims, because we can never list all those names. Nobody but God knows all the names on the list."
Mr Stoddart said of the 20th anniversary: "If you have lost a loved one or loved ones, if everything that you thought was life was wiped in a moment, is it any more poignant or painful to be approaching the 20th Christmas than the 19th? I wonder whether round numbers matter if you've lost a loved one or loved ones.
"I cannot speak for the families of those who died, and I am not sure I have any right to speak for the people of Lockerbie. But I've got a strong sense that Lockerbie feels that this commemoration is enough, if not more than enough. Many would like to have the town back, wanting to be Lockerbie without the brackets.
Just plain Lockerbie, not Lockerbie (the town where) "
The minister said one relative had described the tragedy of December 21, 1988, as Lockerbie "receiving those who died in a loving embrace". He described how loved ones had told him of some of the attributes of those lost as athletic, musical, loyal, caring, beautiful, quiet.
"They were not saints, but they very dear to their families," he said.
Around 150 people attended a wreath-laying ceremony earlier in the day at the town's Dryfesdale Cemetery.
Many wiped away tears as they listened to an address by Canon Michael Bands, who said: "It is awful that we should gather today on this stormy sort of day to feel the sadness again of the tragedy that took place here 20 years ago.
"And so perhaps, after 20 years of the deepest mourning and the experience of the greatest pain, we perhaps need to reflect a little on how the gears have been changing in our own minds and hearts.
"Nothing will ever change the pain, nothing will change those gut-wrenching experiences which followed this tragedy. But how we deal with them and how we go on in to the future history of this country depends so much what we make of it all in our faith.
"This air disaster has long ceased to be a Lockerbie event and become a world event and it takes its place in the whole pattern of human experience of good and evil."
One floral tribute laid in the cemetery's garden of remembrance read: "Twenty years have passed since you all left us to become flying angels. Your souls and spirits will always be with each and every one of us."
Graham Herbert, headteacher at Lockerbie Academy, said: "Lockerbie had never heard of Syracuse, Syracuse had never heard of Lockerbie, and it was decided that the two instititions should co-operate and the idea of a scholarship emerged.
"Over the years the scholarships have provided life-changing experiences. One boy is now working in the media in New York."
Mr Stobbs, who joined the hundreds at the memorial service yesterday, said he now recalls the events of that terrible day only when called upon to do so, usually by journalists.
But he speaks poignantly and with respect for those who died and for those with whom he has dealt with over the years. He said: "It was a night like this. That strong wind was blowing. People ask me why I always talk about the wind on the night. The wind had an effect on what happened after it."
Emergency workers and volunteers found personal effects across a wide area.
Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond said his thoughts were with the people of Lockerbie and all of those affected by the disaster on both sides of the Atlantic. He said: "The anniversary presents an opportunity to reflect on what has happened since - on the strength that the community has shown in coping with such adversity, on the lasting links that have been established with those in other nations who were touched by the disaster, and the subsequent development of the town and its prospects for the future.
"I offer my support to all involved in marking the anniversary and, in particular, my condolences to those who will be mourning the loss of a loved one."
Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy said: "Our eternal sympathy goes out to all those who lost family members and friends and who to this day feel the dreadful effects of that terrible event.
"Lockerbie and Scotland pulled together in the aftermath, grieving, healing and commemorating together as a strong community - all our thoughts are with them again today."
Former Libyan intelligence officer Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi was jailed for life after being convicted of mass murder following a trial at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands in 2001.
Al Megrahi, who was recently diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer, has consistently denied responsibility for the bombing.
He is in prison in Greenock and a second appeal against his conviction will be heard by the courts next year.
