Moira Shearer, Josephine Donaldson and Elma Pringle became known as the 'laundry ladies’ after the Lockerbie terror atrocity. Some of the victims' belongings had fallen into the gardens of their properties. When they discovered that the US were not financing the return of the victims’ property to their loved ones, they set about the mammoth task of washing and sorting through 11,000 items to ensure they were sent back to families. Photo: Pan Am 103 Lockerbie Legacy Foundation
The women spent four months decontaminating, washing and returning more than 11,000 personal possessions back to the loved ones of those killed in the disaster. Getty Images
"I think it was just one of these things, wasn’t it? We never actually thought about it at the time," Elma Pringle told the FBI. "It was just, I think, everybody wanted to do something. And that was the thing. We were able to go and help in the laundry." She said the entire town wanted to help in some way. "There was a lot of people—older people—that couldn't come and do that. But they baked. And they would turn up at the kitchens with sponge cakes and scones, just forever," she said. "It was just for something to do. You wanted to just do something—rather than just sit there—and help." Getty Images
Victoria Cummock, right, lost her husband John, left, in the attack and described the ladies actions as "unbelievable". "I got my husband’s clothes back laundered, it was odd as he never brought them back clean," she said. "Then I discovered this small group of women had done it for us. Their humanity was amazing." Photo: Pan Am 103 Lockerbie Legacy Foundation
Thousands of items of property belonging to those on the flight were collected. Birthday cards, shoes and briefcases were among the property collected to be returned to relatives. Getty Images
"The people of Lockerbie cannot have been more wonderful to us, the way they cared for our loved ones and our loved ones' effects," said Kara Weipz, whose brother Richard was killed in the attack. Getty Images
