It was one of those heart-stopping moments when the news is too shocking to make any sense. On the dark night of December 21, 1988, in the little town of Lockerbie, a terrifying noise had already stopped people in the midst of Christmas preparations and their innate sense of neighbourliness brought them out to offer whatever help they could. They were met by the devastation of Britain's worst terrorist atrocity and, 20 years on, the image of the blackened crater incongruously surrounded by the neat houses of Sherwood Crescent remains unforgettable.
In the last week, the conviction of Bilal Abdulla for the suicide bombing attempt on Glasgow Airport and failed car bombings in London in the summer of 2007 has reminded us of the illogical, random nature of terrorism. Pan Am 103 was deliberately blown out of the sky, but it was not intended to happen over the Scottish Borders, whereas Glasgow airport was deliberately selected as a target, albeit a second choice. The public response, however, was similar. At the airport, people in the vicinity sprang into action to prevent people getting hurt and to apprehend the attackers. Asked to recount their experiences in the months since, those involved have tended to downplay their actions, mirroring the quiet dignity of the people of Lockerbie.
In the little town where children should have been settling down to a deep and dreamless sleep, the townsfolk, doctors, farmers and emergency services were out combing the fields and hills for survivors and finding 270 dead bodies. It was a vision of hell and the flashbacks and sickening memories would torment many of them for years. Yet through the grim aftermath their response was practical, caring and dignified. They offered hospitality to bereaved relatives, many from the US; police and army personnel meticulously combed hundreds of square miles for scraps of evidence; the women of the town washed and ironed clothes to return to grieving families, quietly shedding a tear over the baby garments. Some relived the harrowing details as they gave careful evidence to the fatal accident inquiry or the court case.
Professor Robert Black, who was involved in setting up the legal mechanism which allowed Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi and his co-accused to be tried under Scots law on neutral ground in the Netherlands, is also a son of Lockerbie and says that after the initial shock, the people of the area simply got on with their lives. That is the Scottish way. In recent years, it has been increasingly disparaged as repressed and unhelpful, but is a legacy from generations of our forebears who stubbornly met disaster with fortitude and it has been matched by generosity from Syracuse University in setting up a scholarship for Lockerbie students. In remembering Lockerbie on Sunday, we should salute the determination of all those who continue to counter terrorism by building something positive from death and destruction.
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