The Women of Lockerbie
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The Women of Lockerbie
A few days ago I read the following post by <b>cigalechanta</b>, which was posted on the Thinking of London at this terrible time thread.....
<i>"I remember when The Pan-Am went down in Lockabie, Scotland and the women of that
wonderful place washed and ironed all the clothes before our dead ones were returned home.
When I wrote a letter to the head of Lockabie, she said, not to thank us, we did what any caring
human being would do."</i>
I recently saw a production of <i>The Women of Lockerbie</i>, a new play written by Deborah Brevoort and produced and performed by The Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble (www.bte.org). It was a hauntingly beautiful play which has left an indelible mark in my brain, particularly when I hear about another senseless act of terrorism committed. If you're lucky enough for a production of the play to come to your area, I highly recommend that you take the time to see this moving piece.
Now...on to the travel question... Is there a memorial for Pan Am 103 in Lockerbie, and if so, can you get there without a car? After seeing the play I feel a connection to the people of Lockerbie and would perhaps like to visit someday. Peace.
Robyn >-
<i>"I remember when The Pan-Am went down in Lockabie, Scotland and the women of that
wonderful place washed and ironed all the clothes before our dead ones were returned home.
When I wrote a letter to the head of Lockabie, she said, not to thank us, we did what any caring
human being would do."</i>
I recently saw a production of <i>The Women of Lockerbie</i>, a new play written by Deborah Brevoort and produced and performed by The Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble (www.bte.org). It was a hauntingly beautiful play which has left an indelible mark in my brain, particularly when I hear about another senseless act of terrorism committed. If you're lucky enough for a production of the play to come to your area, I highly recommend that you take the time to see this moving piece.
Now...on to the travel question... Is there a memorial for Pan Am 103 in Lockerbie, and if so, can you get there without a car? After seeing the play I feel a connection to the people of Lockerbie and would perhaps like to visit someday. Peace.
Robyn >-
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We arrived at our B&B outside Lockerbie the day of the massacre at the Olympics, not knowing about it. Our farmhouse hosts sat us down, poured strong cups of tea, and gently told us what had happened. They could not have been nicer, and we'll always remember their compassion.
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http://sunews.syr.edu/911/lockerbie.html
of added interest.
of added interest.
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Thank you , Robyn. I hope this will still be on when we are in LOndon.
As a side..I was distressed when the media here (US) was saying the tube and bus bombings were the largest loss of life in the UK..how could they forget Lockerbie
As a side..I was distressed when the media here (US) was saying the tube and bus bombings were the largest loss of life in the UK..how could they forget Lockerbie
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Thanks for the additional information, cigalechanta.
Jody - Sorry to inform you, but The Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble is located in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. <i>The Women of Lockerbie</i> ran from April 20 - May 15.
Peace, Robyn >-
Jody - Sorry to inform you, but The Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble is located in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. <i>The Women of Lockerbie</i> ran from April 20 - May 15.
Peace, Robyn >-
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Hi artstuff- I made a visit to Lockerbie as part of a solo trip to Scotland some years ago, and visited the memorial park there that is dedicated to all the victims of the Pan-Am tragedy. I recall that it was easy to find, but is by the roadside with a parking area.
Without a car, I guess if you got yourself to the town, which isn't a huge place, you couold easily reach the memorial by foot or bicycle..
Thanks for this post. Looking back on that brief visit, I now realize that I was as naive as a baby. Today, having experienced 9/11 as a resident of NYC, I have new perspectives, but am still moved by the behavior of the people of Lockerbie at the time, in fact even more so now.
Without a car, I guess if you got yourself to the town, which isn't a huge place, you couold easily reach the memorial by foot or bicycle..
Thanks for this post. Looking back on that brief visit, I now realize that I was as naive as a baby. Today, having experienced 9/11 as a resident of NYC, I have new perspectives, but am still moved by the behavior of the people of Lockerbie at the time, in fact even more so now.
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Jody, you may already know this, but the play is on at the Orange Tree theatre in Richmond (a suburb of London), August 31st-October 1st this year - see http://www.jghonline.co.uk/orangetre...n_now_next.asp
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Jody: the US media IS correct-Pan Am 103 was an American aircraft that happened to explode over UK airspace-259 souls on board, 11 Lockerbie residents on the ground lost their lives. It is not the same thing as a terrorist bombing on British soil targeting a British city and the UK Govt.-the Pan Am 103 bombing targeted solely the USG.
And but for the fact that Pan Am 103 was approx. a half hour late taking off from Heathrow, it would not have exploded over Lockerbie at all, but rather, the ocean, which was the intended situs for the explosion, just like Air India exploded over the deepest part of the Irish Sea, off the coast of Cork in 1985, making it very difficult to find forensic evidence of the bombing. (but find it they did, after much pain staking work, but what happened once the evidence got to Canada is a whole other story, -NO ONE has been found guilty for this horrific act-the largest loss of life (329 souls) on board an aircraft due to a terrorist act other than 9/11.
The Canadian court in Vancouver acquitted one of the defendants in the bombing but a few months ago.
Not the case for the Lockerbie bombing. The two defendants Fhimah and Magrahi were finally tried for the 1988 Pan Am bombing in Zeist, the Netherlands in the year 2000. Fhimah was found not guilty, Magrahi is spending the rest of his life in a Scottish prison.
And the memorial in Lockerbie is indeed a peaceful beautiful place-I recall a field of red tulips when I was there after it first opened-the scars of the wreckage in the earth still painfully visible in and around the fields of Lockerbie.
And but for the fact that Pan Am 103 was approx. a half hour late taking off from Heathrow, it would not have exploded over Lockerbie at all, but rather, the ocean, which was the intended situs for the explosion, just like Air India exploded over the deepest part of the Irish Sea, off the coast of Cork in 1985, making it very difficult to find forensic evidence of the bombing. (but find it they did, after much pain staking work, but what happened once the evidence got to Canada is a whole other story, -NO ONE has been found guilty for this horrific act-the largest loss of life (329 souls) on board an aircraft due to a terrorist act other than 9/11.
The Canadian court in Vancouver acquitted one of the defendants in the bombing but a few months ago.
Not the case for the Lockerbie bombing. The two defendants Fhimah and Magrahi were finally tried for the 1988 Pan Am bombing in Zeist, the Netherlands in the year 2000. Fhimah was found not guilty, Magrahi is spending the rest of his life in a Scottish prison.
And the memorial in Lockerbie is indeed a peaceful beautiful place-I recall a field of red tulips when I was there after it first opened-the scars of the wreckage in the earth still painfully visible in and around the fields of Lockerbie.
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The Lockerbie murders were absolutely NOT "targetted solely at the United States Government".
44 Britons (as well as 45 other non-Americans) were murdered that day. Lockerbie, till last Thursday, was the scene of more terrorist deaths in Britain than any other single event since the V2 launch sites were destroyed.
The bombs were planted on a London-NY flight many of us used to use at the time. It was planted on a London-NY, rather than a Paris-NY or a nonstop Frankfurt-NY, flight for a very specific reason.
It was targetting Britons as well as Americans. It was Libya's revenge for the bombing of Tripoli in 1986. That bombing - with the pointless civilian deaths it caused - was carried out by UK-based planes, at a time when the rest of Europe, quite sensibly, refused to allow their airspace to be used for the murder of innocent Libyans.
44 Britons (as well as 45 other non-Americans) were murdered that day. Lockerbie, till last Thursday, was the scene of more terrorist deaths in Britain than any other single event since the V2 launch sites were destroyed.
The bombs were planted on a London-NY flight many of us used to use at the time. It was planted on a London-NY, rather than a Paris-NY or a nonstop Frankfurt-NY, flight for a very specific reason.
It was targetting Britons as well as Americans. It was Libya's revenge for the bombing of Tripoli in 1986. That bombing - with the pointless civilian deaths it caused - was carried out by UK-based planes, at a time when the rest of Europe, quite sensibly, refused to allow their airspace to be used for the murder of innocent Libyans.
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There are several memorial sites in Lockerbie. The Garden of Remembrance is just west of the city in the Dryfesdale cemetery. It is, as others have said, pretty and peaceful.
A few kilometers east of Lockerbie is the area where the flight deck landed, which for many is hallowed ground. I found this much more moving. Across the street is the Tundergarth Memorial Church where a shed was transformed into a memorial room. Inside is a book containing the biographies of all the victims. Please note you may need to get a key from one of the farmers nearby (there will be a note on the door if this is the case.
Apparently there is also a small site in Sherwood area where the jet's wing fell onto houses killing those inside. I did not see this or the town hall site.
Do linger in the area. It very peaceful and the people are warm.
Hope this info helps.
Ashley
A few kilometers east of Lockerbie is the area where the flight deck landed, which for many is hallowed ground. I found this much more moving. Across the street is the Tundergarth Memorial Church where a shed was transformed into a memorial room. Inside is a book containing the biographies of all the victims. Please note you may need to get a key from one of the farmers nearby (there will be a note on the door if this is the case.
Apparently there is also a small site in Sherwood area where the jet's wing fell onto houses killing those inside. I did not see this or the town hall site.
Do linger in the area. It very peaceful and the people are warm.
Hope this info helps.
Ashley
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I would like to thank everyone who replied to my post, for all the bits and pieces of information you have provided me.
How wonderful to hear that <i>The Women of Lockerbie</i> is coming to the UK. I only hope that the Orange Tree Theatre produces just as compelling of a production as the BTE did. Peace....to everyone.
Robyn >-
How wonderful to hear that <i>The Women of Lockerbie</i> is coming to the UK. I only hope that the Orange Tree Theatre produces just as compelling of a production as the BTE did. Peace....to everyone.
Robyn >-
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Flanner-no one has ever said that there were all Americans on that flight. There were persons of many nationalities on board-that would be expected on any international flight-from many different walks of life.
The bomb, however, was clearly targeting the international flag carrier of the US at the time-Pan American-on this point there is no dispute-and the view is that it had not only to do with the US bombing of Libya in 1986, where Quadhafi's daughter was killed, but also, the accidental shootdown of a passenger jet by the US military-Iran Air Flight 655-in 1988. I've never heard it said that they were targeting the British on that flight EVER-until your post. It's simply not correct, and no evidence has ever been put forward supporting your odd theory as well.
And as far as the bomb being placed on board Pan Am 103 in Heathrow, well, that much is true-I said that. But the prevailing theory at the trial by the Crown Office in Edinburgh and the Advocate Depute who argued the case for the Crown was absolutely NOT that the bomb bag originally entered the system at LHR (Heathrow), quite the contrary-it was the final destination. The gold Samsonite bag was placed on an Air Malta Flight by defendants Fhimah and Megrahi (both Libyan state agents-Fhimah being an airport worker at Malta Airport at the time) that interlined in FRA to Pan Am 103A, and then on Pan Am 103A departed FRA-LHR to Pan Am Flight 103 in Heathrow outbound for JFK. There were interline baggage tags entered into evidence tracing one bag with no owner originating from Malta-FRA-LHR-Pan Am 103. The bomb was wrapped in baby-gro label clothes recovered from Lockerbie that originated at Mary's House in Malta. I could go on and on about Fhimah and Megrahi's conspiracy, but that's enough about the evidence on this board.
If you're REALLY interested in finding out what happened-go read the Lockerbie transcripts of the trial at Zeist, but something tells me you won't do that, because you, like so many wild-eyed conspiracists, don't give up your alternate realities for the truth very often.
So in sum, Flanner, you can believe whatever you want, (there are many, many theories and conspiracies surrounding the 103 Flight all of them stupid, ugly, and false)- and then there is that information that was proven up at the trial in Zeist in 2000-irrefutable proof, I might add.
And I really ought to know: I was there.
The bomb, however, was clearly targeting the international flag carrier of the US at the time-Pan American-on this point there is no dispute-and the view is that it had not only to do with the US bombing of Libya in 1986, where Quadhafi's daughter was killed, but also, the accidental shootdown of a passenger jet by the US military-Iran Air Flight 655-in 1988. I've never heard it said that they were targeting the British on that flight EVER-until your post. It's simply not correct, and no evidence has ever been put forward supporting your odd theory as well.
And as far as the bomb being placed on board Pan Am 103 in Heathrow, well, that much is true-I said that. But the prevailing theory at the trial by the Crown Office in Edinburgh and the Advocate Depute who argued the case for the Crown was absolutely NOT that the bomb bag originally entered the system at LHR (Heathrow), quite the contrary-it was the final destination. The gold Samsonite bag was placed on an Air Malta Flight by defendants Fhimah and Megrahi (both Libyan state agents-Fhimah being an airport worker at Malta Airport at the time) that interlined in FRA to Pan Am 103A, and then on Pan Am 103A departed FRA-LHR to Pan Am Flight 103 in Heathrow outbound for JFK. There were interline baggage tags entered into evidence tracing one bag with no owner originating from Malta-FRA-LHR-Pan Am 103. The bomb was wrapped in baby-gro label clothes recovered from Lockerbie that originated at Mary's House in Malta. I could go on and on about Fhimah and Megrahi's conspiracy, but that's enough about the evidence on this board.
If you're REALLY interested in finding out what happened-go read the Lockerbie transcripts of the trial at Zeist, but something tells me you won't do that, because you, like so many wild-eyed conspiracists, don't give up your alternate realities for the truth very often.
So in sum, Flanner, you can believe whatever you want, (there are many, many theories and conspiracies surrounding the 103 Flight all of them stupid, ugly, and false)- and then there is that information that was proven up at the trial in Zeist in 2000-irrefutable proof, I might add.
And I really ought to know: I was there.
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I remember that day, the airplanes fly above Campbeltown on route and so did that particular flight. If it had been five minutes before it would have been my town. There's never an excuse for innocent loss of life, but nice to know of teh generosity and compassion of those involved and the true hope for the human race
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