Lieut. George Albert Cairns V.C.

Lieut. George Albert Cairns V.C., Brighstone churchyard

Next to the gate on the north west corner of St. Mary’s churchyard Brighstone, Isle of Wight, stands a memorial to Lieut. George Albert Cairns, V.C.

Lieut. Cairns, a 30 year old former bank official from Morden, Surrey, was killed in Burma (Myanmar) in 1944 and was awarded the Victoria Cross in 1949 - for the citation see the London Gazette 20 May 1949.

Lieut. Cairns is buried in the Taukkyan War Cemetery in Myanmar – CWGC record. The memorial in Brighstone churchyard reads:

IN EVERLASTING MEMORY OF OUR DEARLY BELOVED SON, LIEUT. GEORGE A. CAIRNS, V.C. SOMERSET LGT. INF. (WYNGATE'S CHINDITS) KILLED IN ACTION, BURMA, MARCH 1944 TWICE MENTIONED IN DISPATCHES AWARDED THE VICTORIA CROSS (POSTHUMOUSLY) MAY 19TH 1949

By 1962 his parents (Albert & Rose Cairns) had retired from Morden, Surrey to Brighstone and, not being able to visit his grave in Myanmar, wished for a local memorial.

The memorial was dedicated on 9^th September 1962 by the Bishop of Portsmouth (the Rt. Rev. J. H. L. Phillips), assisted by the Brighstone rector, (Rev. R. H. Charlton.) As well as family members, representatives from a number of local branches of the British Legion, other organisations and the officer commanding the Somerset Light Infantry attended the ceremony.

Later the memorial had to be repositioned when the wall was reposition after the line of the road was changed.