A fallen Fife soldier’s mother has found support from within the Angus service family for the effort to have the young hero’s name added to his local war memorial.
As the March 1 anniversary of Lance Corporal Liam Tasker’s death draws near, the soldier’s mum is urging the authorities to have the Royal Army Veterinary Corps dog handler’s name etched on to the Tayport monument.
Lance Corporal Tasker died in Helmand Province while on patrol with his loyal companion Theo. Just hours after the 26-year-old Fifer was shot, the springer spaniel suffered a seizure at Camp Bastion and also died.
Liam’s mother Jane Duffy is leading a drive to have her son’s name added to the Tayport memorial before the poignant anniversary get-together which the family has planned.
Now, after learning of the campaign in The Courier, an offer of help has come from an Angus veteran who led a successful effort to have a servicemen honoured more than three decades after falling to an IRA sniper’s bullet.
Jim Ritchie from Kirriemuir, who is now the welfare officer of the Scots Guards Association for Dundee and Angus, took up the case of Guardsman George Lockhart, who was shot in the staunchly republican Bogside area of Londonderry in September 1972.
Born in Arbroath and a former pupil of the town’s academy as well as a local Queen’s Scout, Guardsman Lockhart’s name remained absent from the town war memorial until 2008, when a campaign led by Mr Ritchie came to an emotional conclusion in a summer dedication ceremony involving serving and former members of the regiment.
Mr Ritchie, a former branch association chairman, said the work involved in having Guardsman Lockhart’s name included on the Arbroath monument had been considerable, but an effort worth pursuing.
”We tried and tried over many years and over the different councils which were in existence to have this young man’s name put on the memorial, yet time after time we couldn’t get an agreement. Eventually a small plaque bearing his name was added and marked by that ceremony.
”It was so important to us that he was remembered in his home town, for his family and future generations of Arbroathians to see the sacrifice he made, along with the many others whose names were already on the memorial,” added Mr Ritchie.
”The difficulty was in pinning down who was responsible for taking on a request like that, and I think this family may be finding the same thing.
”An application can find its way to someone’s desk and then just sit there without someone realising just how important this type of thing is to families or those who want to see these servicemen properly honoured.
”It is very, very important that communities recognise these brave young men and woman. I sincerely hope that this young man’s family do not have to wait long before his name is put on the Tayport memorial and if I can offer any assistance or advice to Mrs Duffy through my experience of the Arbroath memorial situation then I would be more than happy to do so.”