'The town that taught the world a lesson in humanity': Lockerbie marks the 37th anniversary of bombing

Ms Cummock, 72, lost her husband John in the bombing of flight Pan Am 103 on December 21, 1988. He was travelling home to Florida to surprise his thres-year-old daugher on her birthday when the Boeing 747 exploded above the town on that darkest of nights.

The town has become a place of solace for Ms Cummock, from Miami, who has returned to Lockerbie almost every year since the atrocity. Now, she has moved into a house opposite the home of the family who took her and her young children in after they arrived in Scotland to face the unfathomable.

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She said: “This was a devastating time for all the families of the 270 victims.

“But we fell in love with the people of Lockerbie and we have become lifelong friends. I wanted to be able to give something back to the community that was so supportive and gave us so much in the aftermath and the years that followed.”

Ms Cummock founded the Pan Am 103 Lockerbie Legacy Foundation, which has led the takeover of the Dryfesdale Church, which is now a “house of remembrance” to the story of Lockerbie, to those who lost their lives and those who continue to live in the aftermath of what remains the UK’s worst terror attack.

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Now called the Lockerbie Memorial Church Museum, the church will host annual service of remembrance in the town for the first time today, on the 37th anniversary of the atrocity.

Ms Cummock added: “The museum now has portraits of all the victims and a computer that can point to each individual victim with details on who they were and where they came from, and people have left their own memorials too so they are not forgotten.

“It has been a phenomenal opportunity to tell the stories of the town that taught the world a lesson in humanity.”

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Ms Cummock’s husband’s remains were found close to where the church stands. Mr Cummock, who had deep family roots in the area, never left Scotland again.

She said: “John was in the nose of the plane and died across the road from the church.

“I got very little of his body back and I wondered where to bury him.

“He was born in Utah, had family between Utah and California, and we had moved to Miami.

“But then I brought him to Lockerbie and I knew this was where he belonged. He loved Scotland, he loved the Borders, and he couldn’t have picked a more beautiful place to die.”

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In December 1988, her husband was working as a marketing VP for Barcardi in Miami and was in London on business.

Back home in Florida, she recalled having a “beautiful” day with her children, who were 3, 4 and 6 at the time, and had no idea that her husband was already making his way back to them on Pan Am Flight 103.

Ms Cummock said: “It was going to be my three-year-old’s birthday at the end of the week - everyone was getting ready for the holidays and getting excited about Santa coming and daddy coming home.

“John decided to cut his trip short and surprise us by being here for her birthday. I had no idea he was on the plane.

“I was working on the demolition of some walls and the workmen had the news on when we heard that a plane from London Heathrow heading to New York came apart in the sky above Lockerbie.

“I said ‘I know where that is, that’s in the Scottish borders’, because John was 100 per cent Scottish, his family came from the Cumnock area and we had travelled there. I remembered the town’s name because it was so unusual.

“It was so strange, I asked the workmen to say a prayer for everyone on the flight and their families. My mum looked at me saying ‘what has got into you?’

“But it was something I needed to say.”

It was not until that evening when her children were safely tucked up in bed that she got a visit from her husband’s boss, who delivered the news.

Ms Cummock recalled: “He looked ashen. He said, ‘has nobody called you? Have you heard about this plane?’

“That is when the nightmare began.”

Shortly after finding out John had been on the flight, she and her children travelled to Lockerbie and said “the people couldn’t have been more helpful or kinder”.

The family has travelled back to Lockerbie at least once a year since, and has kept in touch with the other families affected by the tragedy. After her husband’s death, Lockerbie has in many ways become her life.

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Linny Oliphant was 17-years-old and a pupil at Lockerbie Academy when the flight came down over the town.

Now, she has returned to her hometown to serve as the UK Director of the Pan Am 103 Lockerbie Legacy Foundation.

Of that night, she recalled: “It was the actual sound, the rumbling sound and the house shaking.

“That’s what the majority of people remember, and then everything turned orange.

“My sister and I ran out of the house and it was like a scene from the sci-fi series ‘V’.

“There was smoke everywhere, my shoes were scorched and we had no idea what had happened because it was dark. No-one knew the scale of it until daylight.

“What we had been looking at was actually the front fuselage and the wing partly buried in a crater.”

Ms Oliphant’s mother also taught some of the children who were killed that night, and her father was a policeman who worked as a first responder.

Over 300 guests are expected at the inaugural community service at the Lockerbie Memorial Church Museum today, which will be officiated by Lord Lyon King of Arms Dr Joseph Morrow and Lord Lieutenant of Dumfries Fiona Armstrong, the veteran broadcaster.

The service will include a “wall of honour” coat of arms display to pay tribute to the individuals and organisations that dealt with the aftermath of the attack.

All those involved are invited to present a shield plaque, flag or other insignia that represents their organisation to create a tangible representation of the response on the night, which will become a permanent exhibition at the site.

It will “reflect and honour the exemplary, selfless and compassionate efforts of the survivors and townspeople of Lockerbie,” a statement from the foundation said.

Ms Armstrong said: “Thirty seven years on, it is a time of deep reflection. A time to remember those who died and a time to pay tribute to those who helped this Dumfriesshire community in the days, weeks and years that followed.”

Doors open today at the Lockerbie Memorial Church Museum at 12.30pm and the service begins at 1pm. A reception will be held afterwards in the Kings Arms Hotel.