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Meeting of the Parliament 17 March 2011

17 Mar 2011 · S3 · Meeting of the Parliament

Item of business

Clydebank Blitz 70th Anniversary

Paterson, Gil SNP West of Scotland Watch on SPTV

I pay tribute to Des McNulty for bringing this debate to the chamber and I congratulate him on a fine speech. I associate myself with every word in his excellent and heartfelt speech.

I attended the funeral in Clydebank a few weeks ago of my uncle, Gilbert Martin. Someone spoke to me at the funeral about my grandfather, who was also called Gilbert Martin. I am named after him. However, I did not know that my grandfather, who lived in Byron Street in Partick, had travelled to Clydebank for a week—on foot most of the time—to help during and after the blitz. I did not know anything about that and I now know that none of my family knew about it either. I suppose that if my uncle had not died I would still know nothing about it.

My grandfather was really intelligent and was the kind of person someone would go to if they had a problem or wanted to know something, because he was well read, highly intellectual and knew almost everything. He was one of the folk it was good to go and speak to. However, he never spoke about that incident in his life. Apparently, the scenes were too horrific and he wanted to forget about it.

I attended the commemorative events in Clydebank that Des McNulty spoke about. There were many moving contributions; for example, the moderator of the Church of Scotland delivered an excellent and touching sermon that gave us an insight into some of the things that happened in Clydebank. Another thing that got to me was when four schoolchildren read a poem that illustrated that they understood not only what was happening but what actually did happen.

I cannot remember where, from that weekend of different events, I picked up the story of the Germans knocking Clydebank down but never knocking the stuffing out of the people of Clydebank, as was shown by how they conducted themselves. For example, one of the first towns in the United Kingdom to twin with a German city was—believe it or not—Clydebank. Although the Germans knocked the houses down, they left the community of Clydebank standing.

One of the strongest points that Des McNulty made was that the community in Clydebank feels that the blitz is still an untold story and that their message has not been properly told. In that context, I pay tribute to the events that have taken place and the magnificent way in which all in West Dunbartonshire Council have shed light on Clydebank.

My grandfather had justifiable and good reasons not to talk about the Clydebank blitz. I support that type of sentiment, which was of its time. However, I take a different view from my grandfather because the circumstances are different. I have a good reason to speak in this debate, because I want to celebrate the spirit in the great town and community that is Clydebank. By doing that, and through Des McNulty bringing the subject to Parliament for debate, we will help to shed light on an event that should be highlighted and brought to the attention of not only Scotland but the whole world, to show the type of community that Clydebank is. I do not come from Clydebank; I come from Springburn, but Clydebank has the same sense of community and is the kind of background in which I was shaped.

This is a wonderful opportunity to do more to bring the Clydebank blitz to wider attention. The Parliament will help in doing that and will tell the Clydebank story.

17:20