Sale of Barnsley military properties 'dishonours' war hero
A former army veteran has spoken out over the decision by an armed forces charity to sell off military cottages built in honour of his brother in law.Fourteen bungalows, known as the McKay VC Memorial Cottages, in Hoyland, were built in 1988 and dedicated to Sgt Ian John McKay, who was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.Despite being built to house disabled military veterans the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association (SSAFA) sold the properties in 2024 to Mountview Estates. While veterans still living on the site have been told they can stay for the rest of their lives, Mr McKay's brother-in-law John Vickers, 58, said he did not want his relative's memory "tainted".
Sgt McKay, from Wortley, served in the Falklands and died aged 29 during the Battle of Mount Longdon in 1982 while trying to save his fellow soldiers from enemy fire.He was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross (VC), the UK's top military honour.Mr Vickers said: "He was obviously a fair bit older than me but he was a magnificent calm individual, warm and loving""He was the reason I joined the army" he added.John served with the Queens regiment on tours in Gibraltar and Northern Ireland before leaving the force in 1991 after suffering an injury in Cyprus.
Veterans currently living in the bungalows on Pine Close in Hoyland told the BBC last year how unsettling the sale had been for them.In September SSAFA said they had a "binding stipulation" that all current residents could live in their properties for as long as they wished but that the sale "would free up more financial resources to help more people through the charity's core work".Mr Vickers described the approach by the military charity as "commercial short-termism dishonouring my brother-in-law's name"He added: "If you dedicate a series of buildings to the care of veterans in the name of someone who was a veteran it is behoven on the organisations involved to maintain that legacy "I'm exceptionally disappointed that this has not happened."SSAFA had an obligation to maintain them as memorial cottages, not just for one generation or just the existing residents but for a legacy of at least 125 years."
In a statement a spokesperson for SSAFA said:"We understand the strength of Mr Vickers' feelings, and would like to make clear that the lifetime protected tenancies the residents of the McKay VC Memorial Cottages signed nine months ago are just that: protected and for life."They continued, "Further, the sale of the Pine Close properties is leaving a legacy of help and support to many in the military family past, present, and future, not only the residents of those properties."A spokesperson for Mountview PLC said they did not wish to comment.
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