Alfred Anderson Memorial - Alyth, Perth & Kinross.
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creg-ny-baa
N 56° 37.033 W 003° 13.417
30V E 486276 N 6274799
Memorial cairn commemorating Alfred Anderson, the last Scottish veteran of the First World War and the last survivor of the 1914 Christmas Truce, who died at the age of 109 in the Perthshire town of Alyth where the memorial is situated.
Waymark Code: WM12VR8
Location: Northern Scotland, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 07/21/2020
Views: 1
Alfred Anderson was born on June 25th 1896 in the Scottish city of Dundee. In October 1914 he joined the 1/5 Angus & Dundee battalion of the Black Watch and was shipped off to Flanders. It was here he witnessed the 1914 Christmas Truce.
The following year he became batman to his platoon commander Lieutenant Ian Bruce Gardyne. On night time watch he was wounded by shrapnel from shellfire in the back of the neck and was sent home.
After recovering, he became an infantry instructor at a camp in Ripon, Yorkshire and rose to rank Staff Sergeant by the end of the war.
After the war, he was married and became a joiner in his father's joinery business. In World War Two, now to old for service, he served with the local Home Guard.
After his wife died in 1979, he moved to the small Perthshire town of Alyth, and remained there until his death at 109 years of age on November 21st 2005.
A memorial was set up by public inscription, and was unveiled by the Duke & Duchess of Rothesay in October 2006. The memorial is situated on the southern edge of Alyth next to the town's war memorials and takes the form of a stone cairn with a granite tablet set into the side. The inscription is in black incised lettering and reads as follows:
'ALFRED ANDERSON
25 JUNE 1896 21 NOVEMBER 2005
ALYTH RESIDENT
THE OLDEST MAN IN SCOTLAND WHEN HE DIED
THE LAST SCOTTISH VETEREN OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR
THE LAST SURVIVOR OF THE CHRISTMAS TRUCE OF 1914
AN UNASSUMING AND GRACIOUS MAN GIVING GENEROUSLY
OF HIS MEMORIES TO THE END. MUCH LOVED AND ADMIRED
BY ALL WHOSE LIVES HE TOUCHED
UNVEILED ON 1ST OCTOBER 2006 BY
HRH THE DUKE & DUCHESS OF ROTHESAY
ERECTED BY PUBLIC SUBSCRIPTION'
The memorial can be found on the north-eastern corner of a paved garden area containing both WWI & WWII memorials at Alyth Muir on the corner of Airlie Street and Meigle Road.