Over 100 war graves to be restored
Renovation is being carried out at Sleepyhillock cemetery in Montrose.

Montrose cemetery reveals secrets
The graves of more than 100 armed forces servicemen in Angus are being restored to ensure that they are never forgotten.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is carrying out renovation work to improve the appearance of war graves at Sleepyhillock cemetery in Montrose, Angus.

There are 132 war graves are contained within this cemetery, dating from both World Wars and include many RAF servicemen who died during training exercises at the nearby Montrose Airbase.

Keith Lakey, the commission’s horticultural manager for the UK, said: “Sleepyhillock is an attractive cemetery, but with many shaded areas, we have struggled to maintain adequate grass coverage until now.

“However, by replacing turf and introducing over 350 new herbaceous plants, we hope to substantially improve the appearance of the war graves plots.”

Most of the casualties buried at Sleepyhillock served in the air forces, both British and Commonwealth, but army and naval casualties are also buried there. Thirty nine of the graves date from the First World War with 93 from the Second World War,uy 85 of which are of British and Commonwealth casualties, as well as eight Polish graves.

Dr Dan Paton, of the Montrose Air Station Heritage Centre, said that the restoration of the graves would be used to illustrate the local impact of the wars to school children in the county.

He added: "The air station gets between two and three thousand visitors a year and we get many school parties and one of the things that we very much wish to do is to remind school children that these graves are not only found in France but actually on their own doorstep.

"Many men gave their lives in the skies above Angus as well as in France and Germany."

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