Plea for Dumfries and Galloway Council to help find grave of murdered Gretna woman

Donna Kelly wants to install a permanent memorial to Rebecca McQuarrie, who was killed in front of her children and mother in 1943

Dumfries and Galloway Council is being urged to help find the Gatehouse grave of a woman murdered in Gretna 81 years ago.

Rebecca McQuarrie had her throat cut by deranged Walter Waddell in Annan Road in front of her children and mother in September 1943.

Ray, as she was known, was buried at Girthon – her resting place marked only by a large glass beetroot bottle.

The horrific killing had traumatised the family so much they never got round to erecting a permanent memorial.

Ray’s granddaughter Donna Kelly wanted to put that right.

On Thursday Donna went with her daughter Nicola Carnochan to lay an inscribed slate at her grannie’s graveside.

But on arriving at the quiet spot the pair found the cemetery completely overgrown.

Donna, originally from Dalbeattie and now living in Dumfries, and Nicola, a recently-qualified mental health nurse from Dalbeattie, searched among the waist-high grass for the grave site – but to no avail.

Now distraught Donna – whose mum Pat witnessed Ray’s murder as a young child along with siblings John and June and Ray’s mother Mary McQuarrie – is urging the council to cut the grass to allow
the simple tribute to be finally
laid.

She told the News: “We made a wee slate gravestone for my grannie but we can’t find her resting place.

“We had to put it next to the grave of my great-grandparents John and Mary McQuarrie, just beside the wall.

“We just came up today hoping to place the plaque exactly where my grannie’s grave is.

“We have been before and looked and looked but just couldn’t find it because of the grass.

“All that marks it is a large glass beetroot jar sunk into the soil.

“It’s been there since the 1940s and has two or three inches proud of the ground so we can pop in a couple of flowers.”

Donna added: “This has really upset me – my grannie was murdered on September 13, 1943.

“My mother passed away 10 years ago on September 15 and I miss her terribly.

“The whole thing is emotional and heartbreaking.

“They promised it would be cut but they have done nothing.

“All I want is for the council to show some respect, cut the grass, maintain it and make my grannie’s grave visible.

“We were told it was a closed cemetery and that it would be cut in August – but there’s no way it was cut then.

“There are a lot of graves up here and I’m sure a lot of people come up here to pay their respects.

“It’s absolutely disgraceful.”

Meantime, Donna has placed the memorial slate beside the resting place of her great-grandparents John and Mary McQuarrie, next to the cemetery wall.

She said: “Ray’s father John McQuarrie – my great-grandfather – worked on the Cally Estate as a drystane dyker.

“He and wife Mary moved to Annan Road in Gretna which was army accommodation and has long since been demolished.

“The three wee kids – my mum Pat was one of them – were in
the room when the murder happened.

“My grannie was only 38 and died in her mum Mary’s arms.”

Donna, who has to use a crutch after suffering a compound fracture of her ankle six years ago, added: “I worked in a supermarket but broke my ankle six years ago.

“It’s never been right since and I have to walk with a crutch.

“It’s difficult walking in the cemetery because it’s very uneven.”

The council has been approached for comment.

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