Rededication service to be held following refurbishment of memorial on Sutherland estate to a Falklands War hero
A memorial cairn to a Falklands War hero on a Sutherland estate is to be rededicated at a ceremony on Saturday, June 14, following refurbishment work.
The five-foot-high memorial commemorates Guardsman James (Jim) Boyle Curran Reynolds, a member of the 2nd Battalion Scots Guards, who lost his life in the Battle of Mount Tumbledown on June 14, 1982. He was aged 19.
It was erected by Major General Alastair Bruce of Crionach, whose family owned the estate at the time. When the war began, Jim was an orderly to the then Lieutenant Bruce, who was serving in the 2nd Battalion Scots Guards at the time.
During the Battle of Mount Tumbledown, the 2nd Battalion Scots Guards attacked well- entrenched enemy positions on the craggy ridge seven kilometres west of Port Stanley.
During the attack, Jim’s platoon came under fire, killing his platoon sergeant instantly. A confused situation developed, and his section became separated.
Jim immediately took command, located the enemy snipers and silenced several of them himself.
Then, showing a complete disregard for his own safety, he moved forward to administer first aid to a wounded comrade. He was wounded in the hand by enemy fire himself but continued to aid his colleague. While doing so, he was killed by enemy mortar fire.
He was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal. After the Victoria Cross, it is the Army’s highest award for bravery. His body was repatriated, and he is buried at Knadgerhill Cemetery, Irvine.
The memorial, located in a fenced compound about a quarter of a mile down a private track off the A838, was unveiled in June 1984 by Jim’s sister, Eleanor Gallacher.
Around its base, pupils from Golspie High School planted diddle dee plants sent to them by their counterparts in the Falklands Islands.
Last year, the Highlands and Islands branch of the Scots Guards Association discovered that the memorial had fallen into disrepair.
Roderick Davidson, the branch secretary and treasurer, said: “We worked with the estate management to refurbish the cairn, and we now want to celebrate that.”
Saturday’s rededication service will be conducted by the Rev Canon John Cuthbert of St John the Evangelist Church, Inverness.
Those in attendance will include Falkland veterans from the Highlands and Islands branch of the Scots Guards Association, Maxi MacDonald, Paul McLaughlan and Billy Silver and other branch members, as well as Sutherland Deputy Lieutenant Sheila Stewart, estate staff, and pipers Martin Fraser (ex-Scots Guards) and Ian Walley of the Tain Pipe Band.
A wreath will be laid on behalf of the Falkland veterans.
