A service took place at Birkhill Cemetery on Friday 5th August in memory of Robert (Robbie) Buchan who was killed in action in Vietnam on 11th December 1969. He was born in Dundee, brought up in Perthshire, but emigrated to Australia where he joined the Army. His remains were cremated and the ashes returned to his parents in Scotland. A retired Lieutenant Colonel, Fred Fairhead, who commanded Buchan’s Company, had contacted Tay Valley FHS to try to find out where the ashes lay. With the help of our research team and Dundee Council burial department, he found that the ashes had been interred in his parents’ grave in Birkhill.
Around 20 people attended the service, conducted by Rev. Robert Calvert of Steeple Church. A colour party was provided by the Angus, Perthshire and Fife Area Royal British Legion Scotland who had learned about the service from an article in The Courier. Friends of Robbie and his family were also there, along with TVFHS members.
Lt Col Fairhead paid tribute to Jock, as Robbie was known to his Australian mates, and laid a wreath on the grave.
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Indicated photos kindly supplied by Alastair McLean, Chairman, Angus, Perthshire and Fife Area, Royal British Legion Scotland
Provided the Editor accepts it, there will be an article about Robbie Buchan in the October Historian.
10 August 2016
