More than four years after his death, the name of an Afghanistan war casualty has been added to the war memorial in his village.
Flight Sergeant Stephen Beattie (42), originally from Ardler, was one of 14 servicemen who lost their lives when their Nimrod reconnaissance aircraft crashed.
When aircraft XV230 burst into flames over Kandahar, it represented the largest single-event loss of military personnel since the Falklands War in 1982.
However, Flt Sgt Beattie’s name was conspicuous only by its absence on Ardler’s war memorial.
It took a concerted campaign by local man Andy Fyall to change all of that.
“Stephen attended Ardler Primary before going on to Blairgowrie High School,” he said.
“He was brought up in the village and joined the ATC in Blairgowrie.
“Stephen then got his pilot’s licence at Scone, before joining the RAF.”
With such a close connection to the village, Mr Fyall insisted Flt Sgt Beattie deserved to be recognised locally.
“I first got in touch with the council in December as I just felt his name should be added to the war memorial in Ardler,” he added.
After campaigning for the addition, Mr Fyall admitted he was delighted with his success.
“It is a fitting tribute to Stephen and it is great to finally see his name on the memorial,” he said.
“We sent him to war and the least we can do is ensure he is remembered,” Mr Fyall added.
A remembrance service will now be held at the memorial in the village at 1pm on August 22.
“Representatives of the ATC in Blairgowrie are set to attend, along with people from RAF Kinloss where Stephen had been based,” Mr Fyall said.
More than 600 mourners attended the funeral of Flt Sgt Beattie following his death in Afghanistan.
The doting father of two had been employed as a weapon systems operator and served with 120 Squadron at Kinloss.