Council worker praised for repairing WWI figure
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A MORAY Council worker has been praised after repairing a vandalised World War One figure ahead of Remembrance Sunday.
The 'Tommy' statue, which shows the silhouette of a solider carrying a gun, was twice left in need of repair by vandals – and twice fixed by the council's blacksmith Gordon Masson (61).
The first time it took Mr Masson, of Alves, a full day's work to complete and went back out the next day, only for vandals to strike again. The second restoration job took a day and a half.
Gordon told the Northern Scot: "The first time it actually looked worse than it was and I fixed it on the Friday for it to go back out again on the Saturday. But it was vandalised again that night.
"The second time it was in pretty bad shape and looked like a folded pile of metal on my workbench.
"It took about a day and a half to fix and re-paint it, which I was pleased to be able to do.
"Maybe the vandals don't understand what the statue means. But if that's the case, they should just leave it be."
The figure, which is made out of aluminium, was fixed using a weather mallet and "good old fashioned chapping", he added.
For his work, Gordon received a gracious thanks and a bottle of whisky from the Lord Lieutenant of Moray Grenville Johnston, who visited him at the Ashgrove Depot in Elgin.
![Lord Lieutenant Grenville Johnston [left] presents Gordon Masson with a bottle of whisky for his repairs to the vandalised World War One "Tommy" figure.](/_media/img/0X4W4WNQ0G5HMZPRDJWR.jpg)
The Lord Lieutenant, who is attending his last remembrance parade this weekend before his retirement, handed over an 18 year old bottle of Macallan to Gordon on Tuesday morning.
He then spoke of his gratitude to the council's blacksmith. He said: "When I was I told of the damage I was saddened. But the fact Gordon has fixed it is very good.
"The statue was made available for the 100th anniversary of the end of World War One and commemorates the lives of those who gave theirs.
"With Remembrance Sunday coming up we are delighted to have it fixed."
The soldier will be at the Plainstones in Elgin on Sunday, November 10, to help commemorate the fallen. The Lord Lieutenant will be in Forres at 10.45am on Sunday for the town's parade.
