Remembrance Sunday: Free French memorial in Greenock

All of us are used to companies and organisations having a logo – which tells us visually who they are, where they’re from, what they’re about: it shows us their ‘brand.’

Here in Greenock it seems to me that we’ve got one of the most appropriate images to use as our logo, a symbol of this place: the Free French Memorial on Lyle Hill.

Featuring the Cross of Lorraine merged with the flukes of an anchor, it can be seen on school badges, souvenirs, corporate communications, advertising and a hundred and one other things.

The Free French Memorial on Lyle Hill dates back to 1846. (Image: George Munro) It’s simple, distinctive and it sums up what I think is really important and admirable about the town.

The French cross recalls the warm relations with the French forces stationed here, and their sacrifice, and the anchor nods to the ancient connection between Inverclyde and the sea.

But, more. It crowns one of Scotland’s finest beauty spots! Yet, during the Second World War Lyle Hill and the golf course had a battery of anti-aircraft rockets, ammunition dumps and a radar station on it.

Not now. It’s as peaceful and tranquil as a breath of heaven...with a view almost as far!

Lyle Road itself has a story of triumph over adversity. It's named after the former Provost whose legacy has made me fat and my mouth full of fillings!

Abram Lyle’s sugar refining business was built upon slavery, nowadays seen as a terrible stain on our national conscience. Yet he commissioned the road to provide work for the unemployed during what was called ‘The Long Depression” of 1878-80.

Read more on Alan Sorensen's look at Inverclyde's war memorials

Looking back 100 years to the dedication and unveiling of Greenock war memorial

Gourock war memorial's location is a sign of our freedom

Port Glasgow's war memorial 'tells us plenty about the true bedrock of the town'

This place, with the war memorial and the history of the hill, seems to me to represent a landmark of hope. Bad things can be remembered, transformed, and good things can come from them.

There are four inscriptions around the memorial's base which tell us that it commemorates “...the sailors of the Free French Naval Forces who sailed from Greenock in the years 1940–1945 and gave their lives in the Battle of the Atlantic for the liberation of France and the success of the Allied cause".

Also, it commemorates “Commander Birot and the officers and crew of the corvettes 'Alysse' and 'Mimosa', lost in the Battle of the Atlantic, 1942” and the submarine ‘Surcouf’. Truly terrible events and painful sacrifice which should indeed be remembered.

And so, the memorial was unveiled on January 15, 1946 and since then has become the most recognisable symbol of the area.

And I like that. The enormous and ghastly sacrifice of the French servicemen, the golf course ploughed up for rockets, the poorest days of hardship in the 19th century – all these are stories of darkness which was ultimately overcome by light.

And in the many years I lived in Greenock, that is what I admired so much – a town, yes, with its problems, but with the drive to always make things better.

The Free French Memorial on Lyle Hill, unveiled in January 1946, hosts a service at 1.30pm every Remembrance Sunday. (Image: George Munro) This Remembrance Sunday, around 1.30pm, there will be, as there is every year, a ceremony held there which I hope many will attend. The Free French Memorial will be rededicated as part of an initiative of Provost McKenzie along with the Lord-Lieutenant, Col Peter McCarthy, to rededicate all the main memorials this year.

For 22 years I conducted the Lyle Hill Remembrance ceremony and I can’t help feeling that this memorial needs little re-dedication, as it has never tired of doing what it does: it stands out, visible for miles, proudly remembering self-sacrifice.

For my money, a landmark that recalls so much struggle, but is a place of such breathtaking beauty and peace, is a great logo for our area.

That’s our brand: the place of hope.