A Forgotten Grave

St Andrews parish church stands at the northern end of Golspie's Main Street. It has a long history but I hadn't visited it until today when, having seen a notice by its main gate announcing that it contains war graves, I went in search of them. The graveyard is in three sections, the oldest being around the church itself while the other two are on flat land overlooking it.

I found three war graves in the second cemetery. The first stone stands away from any others, as if it is being quietly shunned. It commemorates....

....one of many men from Commonwealth countries - Honduras, Canada, New Zealand and Australia - who came to Scotland to work in forestry during the Second World War. C. Torres was one of about 400 who arrived in November 1942, some of whom were posted to Golspie.

It appears, from this article in the Independent, that the Hondurans were not treated well: for example, their accommodation was far inferior to that provided for Dominion units doing identical work.

They also appear to have been rather forgotten in death. Being non-combatants, they do not feature with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, for....

....the CWGC's website is unable to find any record of a C. Torres. Yet the gravestone is very similar to that provided for servicemen and women.

I have several reasons for visiting CWGC cemeteries. One is my memories of the rows and rows of gravestones in the searing heat of Libya and Egypt, beautifully maintained but so, so sad, standing as they did in an empty waste of desert. Another is that, as a wanderer, I have always looked for people buried far from home - like the New Zealand Hurricane pilot who flew into the side of a hill on Ardnamurchan - story here. C. Torres very much comes into the category of people who died in the war a long way from home, and have been forgotten.