Lockerbie Memorial Garden

While most people are aware of the Lockerbie Air Disaster, not everyone realizes that not all of the victims were passengers on Pam Am Flight 103. Eleven residents living on Sherwood Crescent were also killed when the wing section of the doomed plane hit number 13 and caused an explosion. The house at number 13 was completely destroyed, killing the two residents. Their bodies, sadly, were never recovered.

A family of four was also killed in an explosion at their home not far along the street at number 15. A family of three died at number 16 in yet another explosion. Their son was not at home at the time but witnessed a fireball engulfing the house while fixing his sister's bike in a neighbor's garage. He survived the incident. The last two residents killed at Sherwood Crescent were a pair of widows, aged 81 and 82. They were the oldest victims of the bombing.

Several other houses on Sherwood Crescent were destroyed, with 21 other homes damaged beyond repair. 1 Sherwood Crescent was the only home not destroyed during the impact, damaged by the explosions, or gutted by the fire that followed. Lockerbie's Catholic priest, Patrick Keegans, and his mother, who lived there, both survived the incident.

To visit Sherwood Crescent now, you would not believe the tragedy this street suffered on that December evening in 1988. Many of the properties have been rebuilt and proudly stand with neat gardens, once again full of family life. The only indication something sinister occurred here is a lump of rock with a small plaque. The memorial stands in the corner of the estate where a 164-foot (50-meter) crater once scarred the landscape and some of the most badly damaged properties were located.