Lockerbie: Remembering the victims of Flight 103

Today, the town of Lockerbie remembers the disaster in its own, quiet, way.

Pupils from the secondary school can apply for a scholarship to spend a year at Syracuse University, in memory of 35 students from there who died in the bombing.

There is a memorial garden on the edge of the town, as well as plaques in Sherwood Crescent and Park Place, the two sites where most of the plane came down.

Nearby Tundergarth Church, which overlooks the field where the nose cone was found, is also a site of remembrance.

But more than anything, the Lockerbie bombing victims are remembered by those they left behind.

Every year in Tobermory, members at the golf club play for the cup which carries Billy MacAllister’s name.

And his friend Stewart has a special reason to remember him.

“He had a big impact on my life really because, had Billy not enticed me to go and work over at Richmond, I would probably have not got to know my then girlfriend, who became my wife. My life would have been a very different one from what it became,” he says.

“What a shame he didn’t get a chance to go on and fulfil his potential.”

For Rose, Tim’s early death has shaped the course of the past four decades for all those who loved him.

“I think the gift that Tim’s given us is to live our lives. I always feel that I owe that to him. Get out and do it.”

Olive’s death has had the same effect on Colyn and their siblings.

“Olive would have wanted us to live a good life, a full life. Like how she lived. Having a good time.”