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Kingsmills Memorial plea on atrocity’s 36th anniversary

Thursday, 5 January 2012

A single cross marks the scene of the attack at the Kingsmills Massacre Memorial site. CG0103

AN impassioned plea has been made by two elderly relatives for a roadside memorial to be constructed in memory of their loved ones who died in the Kingsmills Massacre - 36 years ago this week.
As relatives of the 10 innocent victims prepare for yet another anniversary on Thursday, the 88-year-old widow of Joseph Lemmon - and 84-year-old mother of Kenneth Worton - have spoken to the Ulster Gazette about their heartache that a permanent commemoration has not yet been erected on the site.
The only reminder, if one is needed, of the savage attack on January 5, 1976 - which robbed 10 families of much loved sons, husbands, fathers and brothers - is a solitary wooden cross, on an isolated roadside, a short distance from Kingsmills crossroads.
The victims had been travelling home in a minibus from a Glenanne textile factory when they were stopped by a group calling itself the Republican Action Force.
At the time, the only Catholic workman onboard the minibus - Richard Hughes - was asked by the killer gang to identify himself, before being ordered by the gunman to go down the road and not look back.
Miraculously, Bessbrook man Alan Black survived the atrocity, despite sustaining 18 gunshot wounds in the massacre.
As the years pass - and with relatives of the victims getting older - the hope is that a permanent memorial can be constructed to mark the spot of the ruthless attack, which ranks among the worst atrocities of the Troubles.
Speaking to the Gazette, Kenneth Worton's heartbroken mother Beatrice revealed the harrowing memories from that "awful night",
when her 24-year-old son was killed alongside nine of his colleagues, remain forever vivid.
The mother of five, who lives in Markethill, believes a permanent memorial would be a fitting reminder to the lives of the 10 innocent young men, who had their lives cruelly ended at Kingsmills.
“We go up there on the 5th of January each year and put flowers at the spot where the killings took place and it would be lovely to have a proper memorial.
“It's a lonely spot where it happened, especially in the winter time. If there was a memorial, you could stop and say a wee prayer at the site where Kenneth and his friends died.
The heartbroken mother said she believes a memorial should now be in place, given that 36 years have passed.
“It would be nice to see a memorial in place before we go to our happy hunting ground. My husband thought he would have lived long enough to see it, but unfortunately he died 10 years ago.
“There are memorials up in other places in less time. Kingsmills was one of the worst killings to occur in Northern Ireland, with 10 of them all getting killed at once.
“Our Kenneth's coffin was never opened. He had such a lovely head of curly hair and was a lovely looking fella, but I would say that anyway as his mother.
“Kenneth had two wee girls, who were only three and six at the time, and he had been married very young, when he was just 17. He was only 24 when he was killed.
“His wee children are all grown up now and his grandchildren don't even know who he was, which is very sad," added Mrs Worton.
Also backing calls for a permanent roadside monument is Jane Lemmon, from Bessbrook, who lost her 46-year-old husband Joseph at Kingsmills.
The mother of three, who is now 88 years old, said she would like to see the construction of a memorial and believes it should have been put in place years ago.
“There have been memorials put up in other places and nobody else ever stopped them from being put up.
“It would make me very proud to see a roadside memorial. The government does not care - they brush everything under the carpet and it is only the people that are left behind who suffer.
“Especially around Christmas time, you fairly miss them. It doesn't seem like 36 years when you think back.
“My husband was a good man and he loved his family and his children - he would have done anything for anyone," added Mrs Lemmon.
Willie Frazer, director of the Markethill-based Families Acting for Innocent Relatives (FAIR), is also supporting the families' calls for a permanent memorial to the Kingsmills victims.
While a permanent memorial has been in the planning for around five years, an ongoing investigation by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB) into funding awarded to victims' group FAIR, has been responsible for hampering plans.
The SEUPB has been investigating the Markethill-based group after they claimed it breached the conditions of funding, in relation to tendering and procurement and, as a result, all money awarded to FAIR has been revoked.
In November, the Ulster Gazette revealed the PSNI indicated no further action was being taken, following a recent investigation into the affairs of FAIR, and the matter had been referred back to the SEUPB.
Mr Frazer said he is determined to see a monument in place during 2012, despite his victims' group enduring a 17 months long investigation from EU funders.
“We have been talking about putting a memorial up this last five years but we had got into the position two years ago to start it, whenever we got all this hassle from the EU funding.
“Instead of the funding being helpful, it is hindering us," insisted Mr Frazer.
“This time, we are under attack, not from bombs or bullets, but from bureaucrats.
“The families have offered to pay for the memorial themselves, but we said no. Some of them would like to see it in place before they die.
“In 2012, a memorial will be going up, one way or another. It's the worst atrocity in the history of the Troubles and the only thing that marks it is one cross.
“The reasons we had not considered a memorial until more recent years is because people thought it may get damaged, but we think things have moved on a bit since then," added the dedicated victims' campaigner.

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