The West Highland Museum in Fort William may be small but it houses some fascinating artefacts. Whilst most tourists flock around those connected with the Jacobites, an exhibit dedicated to peace and not to war, comes all the way from Japan.

It reads:

From the youth of Hiroshima in the hope that the experience of 6th August 1945 will strengthen our search for a peaceful world January 1st 1968. Hiroshima Junior Chamber of Commerce, Inc. Japan

It is all too easy to walk past this wonderful message located as it is in a narrow corridor beside the staircase and because there’s so much else to see in this museum.

The story behind the stone is inspirational and is retold in a Blog by Vanessa Martin from the Museum:

The Second World War ended soon after nuclear bombs were dropped in Japan at Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.

Shortly afterwards Bert Bissell, MBE (1902 – 1998), a mountain climber and peace campaigner from Dudley arrived with members of his Dudley Bible Class in Fort William on V-J Day, where they climbed Ben Nevis and dedicated a Peace Cairn to universal world peace at the summit.

In addition to the memorial on Ben Nevis, Bert was instrumental in getting similar cairns placed on other world peaks.  This resulted in him obtaining an MBE, the World Methodist Peace Award and acclaim from the Japanese government, which included visits to Hiroshima.  Bert was also awarded the Freedom of both Dudley and Fort William.  He is buried in the churchyard at Glen Nevis.

Many people were horrified at the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima on 6^th August and Nagasaki on 9^th August 1945, and provided monuments and plaques noting this. 

The Hiroshima plaque was presented to Fort William as “A memorial from the youth of Hiroshima in the hope that the experience of 6^th August 1945 will strengthen our search for a peaceful world. January 1^st 1968.”  This was exhibited as part of a Peace Cairn on the Parade, Fort William.  Sadly, it was damaged some years later, but has since been repaired.

A Peace Cairn was later presented by the people of Dudley and Fort William to Hiroshima where it remains on display in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. 

The peace climbs at Ben Nevis were repeated annually for many years afterwards.  These have recently been resurrected and a climb took place in 2018.  Bert ascended the mountain over 100 times and undertook his last climb at the age of 91 years old.  He was frequently supported on his climbs by the people of Dudley, Fort William and members of the Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team.

The Peace Cairn on the Parade at Fort William, uses stones from the old fort, it incorporates the bellcote from the former Town Hall in Cameron Square of 1881, which was destroyed by fire in 1975, and a replica of the memorial stone from the Youth of Hiroshima – Canmore

The Cairn on Ben Nevis was erected on August 13th 1945. The dedication service took place on 9th of August 1949 and was attended by a large group including: Bert Bissell, 33 young people from Vicar Street Dudley Methodist Church, local residents from Fort William, and visitors to the area. They had set off from Fort William to walk to the Cairn on a day of heavy showers.

Before the service, the stone tablet weighing over 28lb, cement also weighing 28lb, and 40lb of sand had been carried up to the location by a group of 14 youths. It took 2 1/2 hours to set the memorial tablet into the Cairn.

The tablet reads:

To the glory and God and in memory of the fallen, this cairn was erected on VJ Day by the members of Vicar Street Methodist Young Men’s Class , Dudley, Worcs.

At the end of the service and the observed silence, Piper John McCallum played ‘The Flowers of the Forest.’

Bert Bissell was born on 9th January 1902 in Dudley Worcestershire. In 1925 he founded the Young Men’s Bible Class at Vicar Street Methodist Church.

In 1987 the Methodist World Peace Award was awarded to this wonderful mountain climber.

Bert Bissell worked with young people his whole life and the Bible Class he started in 1925 is still going.

He died in November 1998, aged 96, at Nethercrest Nursing Home in Netherton after fracturing his pelvis in a fall at his home in Selborne Road, Dudley the previous spring. His funeral was held at Vicar Street Methodist Church on 10 November and he was buried in the churchyard at Ben Nevis.

There is a Facebook Page dedicated to his memory: Bert Bissell Memorial Society

Fiona Grahame