Carlingnose Barracks 1952 – 56 Gun Salute

THE COURIER AND ADVERTISER, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1952.

The 268 Maintenance Battery, R.A., from Port Laing, North Queensferry, firing a 56 gun salute at Stirling Castle yesterday, in memory of the King.

[King George VI failed to recover from a lung operation, and died in his sleep on 6 February 1952 at Sandringham. Illness had forced him to abandon a proposed Commonwealth tour. Princess Elizabeth, accompanied by Prince Philip, took his place. On Wednesday 6 February 1952, she received the news of her father’s death and her own Accession to the throne while staying in a remote part of Kenya. In an instant, she had ceased to be Princess Elizabeth and became Queen Elizabeth II.

Following the news, the tour was abandoned, and the young Princess flew back to Britain as Queen. She was greeted by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and other officials at the airport before returning to Clarence House. She was officially crowned in a Coronation ceremony at Westminster Abbey the following year, on 2 June 1953.

Her Majesty’s Accession came as she was raising a young family: Prince Charles was three years old and Princess Anne just one when The Queen learnt of her father’s death. Her new duties had to take precedence over family life, with long overseas tours taking her away for months at a time.]