Methodist Church commemorates sailors who died in WW1 torpedo attack

“We are here to honour the memory of these men and for us, the family, it is also never to forget them and their sacrifice,” said Pascale, the great-granddaughter of Théophile Berto, the second captain of the Longwy.

Théophile died on 11 November 1917 when a German torpedo hit the merchant steamer. Three bodies – Captain Joseph Aldophe Huet, Adolphe Harre and Samuel Brajuel – were recovered along the coast of Girvan in the Methodist Church of Scotland and buried in the local cemetery.

“I grew up hearing about him,” remembers Eric, the Captain’s great-grandson, “We called him “the hero” in the family.” Through the process, Eric found out that the Captain had survived a previous German U-boat torpedo a year earlier on the east coast of Scotland.

Many other relatives of the crew members came to the service on Saturday 12 October. Among them, Camille who “feels very grateful for the event. It was so long ago and yet we are here, in Scotland, in 2024 and it’s meaningful for us. I am proud of my great grandfather and glad to finally know what happened to him.”

The event was attended by the families, the people who organised the commemoration as well as representatives of the French and Scottish governments, including the First Minister John Swinney, Stéphane Pailler, the French Consulate to Scotland and former ambassador John Duncan.

2014-2024, from commiseration to commemoration

10 years ago, local historians Lorna and Richard Conaghan started a research project on soldiers in Colmonell. “We went to Girvan for a Christmas event and Richard nudged me and said, there's your next job,” remembers Lorna. “We set our criteria as born in, resided in, enlisted in or buried in. So when we looked at the cemetery, we came across the two French crosses.”

Lorna and Richard tried to contact French authorities to get information on the French sailors. They had no response for years until they saw information on social media channels about a Girvan soldier buried in Brittany which was posted by John Duncan. They contacted him and John agreed to use his contacts and knowledge of the language to help their project.

“The first thing I did was to contact Francois Fouré from the Souvenir Français Finistere and Daniel Laheyne. I explained the situation and asked if they would want to be involved in the project and research the Longwy soldiers and their families,” adds John. John was a precious communication asset for both countries, notably translating letters and emails, and getting local politicians involved.

The Souvenir Français is a charity which mission is to take care of soldiers’ tombs and war monuments, and offer new tombstones when necessary. In Girvan, they were the main funder of the new tombstone in pink granite from Brittany honouring the Longwy crew.

“If we live in free countries, it is thanks to men like the Longwy soldiers. We must remember them in Scotland and France and foster the friendship between our two countries,” says François Fouré. He was particularly touched by the local primary school’s involvement in the event, their drawings about the Longwy, the captain’s compass, and their singing of French songs and anthem at the cemetery. “We have a duty of memory and the children’s participation means their teachers taught them about WWI and the fate of the Longwy soldiers.”

Elena Whitham, MP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, agrees, “It's brilliant to hear the children singing, to know that they're learning all about this and that the memories of those 31 souls that were lost are going to be here forever, and that's important for all of us to remember.”