Polish and British war graves, Grandsable Cemetery

Grandsable Cemetery (sometimes called Grangemouth Cemetery) lies east of

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

, between the A9 and A803 south of

Grangemouth Grangemouth ( sco, Grangemooth; gd, Inbhir Ghrainnse, ) is a town in the Falkirk council area, Scotland. Historically part of the county of Stirlingshire, the town lies in the Forth Valley, on the banks of the Firth of Forth, east of Falkirk ...

near

Polmont Polmont ( gd, Poll-Mhonadh) is a village in the Falkirk council area of Central Scotland. It lies towards the east of the town of Falkirk, north of the Union Canal, which runs adjacent to the village. Due to its situation in Central Scotland, m ...

. It lies on a small hill with views over the

Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is the estuary, or firth, of several Scottish rivers including the River Forth. It meets the North Sea with Fife on the north coast and Lothian on the south. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate of ''fjord'', a Norse word meani ...

. It is well-maintained with a mature and well-laid landscape. Unlike other cemeteries in the wider area it has almost no vandalism, probably due to its distance from any main town. The cemetery is operated by Falkirk Council.

Background

The cemetery was founded in the early 20th century. The land was purchased in 1901 but the first burial appears to be in 1910. Unlike most Scottish cemeteries of the period it reverted to a curvilinear layout, more typical of cemeteries at their outset in the 1840s. Its proximity to

RAF Grangemouth Royal Air Force Grangemouth or more simply RAF Grangemouth is a former Royal Air Force station located north east of Falkirk, Stirlingshire, Scotland. History It was opened as the Central Scotland Airport in May 1939 and operated as a Civilia ...

accounts for a high number of pilots. Over and above this there are an abnormal number of accidental deaths relating to local mining, shipping and flying incidents. There are also a high number of "secondary memorials" to fallen sons - buried in France and Flanders during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. It has a number of war graves of those dying of wounds having safely reached home including several Polish pilots flying with the RAF. In total it has 91 war graves. 22 graves are from the

Notable interments

* Pt. Thomas Campbell (1919–1940) accidentally shot whilst on transfer to

RAF Castletown Royal Air Force Castletown or more simply RAF Castletown is a former Royal Air Force station that operated during the Second World War. Built near to Castletown in Caithness, Scotland the station opened in 1940 and closed in 1945. Initially bu ...

near

Thurso Thurso (pronounced ; sco, Thursa, gd, Inbhir Theòrsa ) is a town and former burgh on the north coast of the Highland council area of Scotland. Situated in the historical County of Caithness, it is the northernmost town on the island of Great ...

* Samuel Popham Jackson JP (1857–1943) Provost of Grangemouth 1917 to 1926 * Norman D. Robertson (1878–1938) sculptor * Robert Robb (1902–1924) killed in the 1924 Mutiny of

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...

New Grandsable

New Grandsable was opened in the early 21st century to complement the original cemetery providing woodland burials, on a site west of the original.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Grandsable Cemetery Cemeteries in Scotland 20th-century establishments in the United Kingdom