The Scottish Military Research Group - Commemorations Project

spoons

The head teacher at the school where I work has invited me to make a contribution to the school remembrance day service (both primary and secondary). I guess I will be limited to 5 minutes or so.

I thought of showing a few slides of local memorials, mentioning their imporance and meaning as well as the sheer numbers from small communities. Perhaps also pick a name of someone who would have gone to the school and find a few facts about him. A quick plug to our project forums of course.

Any suggestions?

\Paul

KevinStoke · . Joined: 09 Jan 2007 Posts: 175

interview one of the grandparents kids, tell the school his story of how he survived when others around him didn't. Dont mention any names. Doesn't have to be ww1 or 2, maybe ask a serving soldier to give you details on Aghans or Iraq. The Falklands war and the first Gulf were a long time ago to primary kids let alone the wars. Maybe take a few battlefield relics in and talk about them. 5 mins is not long.

Kevin

Adam Brown · Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 5:13 pm Post subject:

If possible maybe find a couple of entries in the CWGC database where the men came from the streets round the school? (Geoff's search engine would come in handy here)

How about relating the number who died locally to a class size?

Or how about why communities erected them? Why they had no graves of their fathers, sons and brothers to mourn at perhaps? If possible using CWGC find out how many on the local memorial have no known grave?

Maybe mention their relevance today by pointing out names are still being added for the soldiers being killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I always think the last few words of the Kilmarnock Academy headmaster's introduction to their WW2 RoH sums it up nicely.

"The inescapable fact about a war memorial is that it must be a memorial of war, with all that that implies of heartbreak, suffering, and the premature and seemingly fortuitous extinction of hope and promise.

It is well that, if sacrifice is not again to prove vain, succeeding generations should not forget these bitter realities. "
Adam

anne park · Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 5:39 pm Post subject: Powerpoint presentation?

Why not use powerpoint the kids would be impressed. Anne

Adam Brown · Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 1:20 am Post subject:

Paul

You may want to trawl the internet looking at what other schools have done for Remembrance to get some idea of what is appropriate for school children. Here are some I found

http://www.kented.org.uk/ngfl/subjects/history/qca/remembrance.htm

http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/teachingandlearning/assemblies/index.cfm?mode=searchdisplay&id=107&history=keyword

http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/schemes2/history/his17/17q4?view=get

http://www.show.me.uk/site/news/STO521.html

http://www.dltk-holidays.com/remembrance/index.html

http://www.standards.dcsf.gov.uk/schemes2/history/his17/?view=the_whole_unit

Adam

spoons · Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2008 3:43 pm Post subject:

thanks for all the suggestions, all of that to an audience of 5 to 16 year olds and all in 5 minutes!!! Laughing

\Paul

spoons · Posted: Sun Sep 21, 2008 8:26 pm Post subject:

Thought you might be interested to know what I decided. After a 1 - 2 minute general introduction on memorials (and mention the nearby Balmaclellan memorial - oldest civic memorial in Scotland) I will focus on one individual. The first named on the nearest memorial is:
Robert James Clark - 6 Gordons, died 1 Nov 1916
I have found he died from a German shell whilst on sentry duty at the battle of the Somme, he had 2 brothers (one who served and return) and 4 sisters. Before enlisting he was a joiner working for his father (also a joiner).
The 1901 census gave his address as Main Street, Dalry and guess what? Out walking today I noticed a roadside bench dedicated to his parents Hugh and Esther that gives their house name which still stands, so I will have a photo of his house - directly opposite the war memorial! - his bereaved parents would have seen it every day. He would have attended the local school and the current pupils will know his house, the memorial and the bench.
Stewartry kindly provided a photo of the man, a kind soul on GWF has sent a photo of his grave in France showing him buried alongside 2 of his comrades who died on the same day. I also have a photo of his family gravestone in the local cemetery which mentions him.
That should be enough to bring one man to life - every name will have a similar story.
Lucky to find that much and get it all in a couple of days but how many people have managed to use a local bench to research a memorial name?

\Paul

Adam Brown · Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 9:53 am Post subject:

Excellent idea Paul about focusing on a local man where the children can see the memorials and house.

Nice little touch to point out Balmaclellan as well.

I hope it goes well. You've got plenty of time to practice!

Regards

Adam

anne park · Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 10:35 am Post subject: Three Gordons

Park George Stephen Pte 3552 5th Gordon Highlanders b Boddam e Peterhead Age 21 Killed in Action F & F 01-Nov-16 Son of Mr & Mrs Robert Park, Boddam, Aberdeenshire. 1891 Census: Peterhead 232/2: Fisherman. 1901 Census 232/2: Salmon Fisher's Wife. Auchonvillers Military Cemetery Fr 0035 Plot II Row E Grave 52 Aberdeen Daily Journal 22-11-16 Page 3 : Photo.
McGungle William Pte 3394 5th Gordon Highlanders b Aberdeen e Peterhead Killed in Action F & F 01-Nov-16 City Roll of Honour : 7 Mitchell Court. Auchonvillers Military Cemetery Fr 0035 Plot II Row E Grave 53 City & Footdee
Just thought you'd like the info on the other two Gordons. Interesting that one is a Park. Anne

spoons · Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 12:08 pm Post subject:

Thanks Anne, would be interested to know why he joined the Gordons instead of the local regiment

\Paul

anne park

Until the end of 1916, the majority of the men serving in the Battalion were men from the original recruiting area of Aberdeenshire. Gradually the casualty figures show fewer and fewer of these men and more coming from elsewhere in Scotland and even England. This can be checked in Carolyn Morrisey's site. Anne

spoons · Posted: Tue Nov 11, 2008 5:47 pm Post subject:

Once again thanks to all who gave advice. Just in case it is of use to anyone, I spoke for 10 minutes to the secondary school plus the last 2 years of the primary and it was well received.

Here is the script I used and if anyone would like copies of the photos along with the script (with appropriate highlighting) just let me know.

\Paul

(this talk follows a reading of ‘in Flanders fields’)

The poem that you heard ‘in Flanders Fields’ is probably the most famous poem from the First World War, also known as the Great War. And was written by a Canadian, Lt Col John McCrae, whose grandfather emigrated to Canada from Carsphairn. (slide – war memorials of the Glenkens)

Scotland has a long and proud history of remembering those who died in wars and this is especially true in the Glenkens

Some believe that an old Scottish tradition is the origin of all war memorials. As each man left his village to go to war, he placed a stone on a nearby hill to form a cairn; then as each soldier returned from battle he took away a stone. The cairn that remained therefore represented all the stones of the men who failed to return. The number of stones is the number of men who died. Of course many more cairns have since been made that are not memorials to those who died.

(slide – crimea memorial in Balmaclellan)
Although there were earlier memorials to individuals or regiments, the first civic war memorial erected in Scotland was to 5 men from Balmaclellan parish who died in the Crimean war in 1855 and it stands in Balmaclellan churchyard. People of the Glenkens should be proud to have the oldest civic war memorial in Scotland.

I don’t suppose it is a coincidence that Robert Paterson (otherwise known as Old Mortality) also made his home in Balmaclellan. He did much to honour the dead of an earlier age – the Covenanters. But that is a story for another day.

War memorials take many forms; stone monuments or statues (that you are likely to see in almost every town and village), stained glass windows (Balmaclellan), plaques of stone, metal or wood (such as in Kells church and Dalry Town Hall), book of remembrance (Balmaclellan church), scroll of honour (New Galloway Town Hall), sometimes even pieces of furniture (St Margarets), or whole buildings (Moniaive Institute), there is even an original WW1 battlefield cross in Kells churchyard that has been placed as a memorial.

Some memorials list only the men (and women) who died but others list all those who served, for example the Roll of Honour in Dalry Town Hall.

There are a total of 27 war memorials in the Glenkens and here are the 4 major village memorials.

Balmaclellan is in the form of a granite pillar (slide – Balmaclellan)

Carsphairn is in the form of a cairn (slide – Carsphairn)

New Galloway is also in the form of a cairn (slide – New Galloway)

And Dalry is a Celtic cross (slide – Dalry)

I tried to think how best to bring a sense of presence to these memorials so I
decided to focus on one man (slide – name on memorial); and to make it straightforward, I chose the first man listed on the nearest memorial (the one on Main Street, Dalry).

(slide – house, Craigielea)
Robert James Clark was the son of Hugh and Esther Clark and lived in this house in Main Street, Dalry, almost opposite where the memorial now stands. He was a joiner and worked with his father (also a joiner) and would have been a pupil at Dalry school.

He joined 6th Battalion the Gordon Highlanders in January 1916 and here is the man himself……………(slide – Robert Clark). This was the cap badge that he would have been proud to wear. ………(hold up Gordon Highlanders cap badge). He went to France in July and earned these two medals (hold up British War and Victory medals). These aren’t his actual medals, they were borrowed from another brave man. Robert was killed on 1st November the same year.
He was just 20……….. years…….. old.

(Slide – grave in France)
Robert Clark is buried in France in a war cemetery alongside his comrades. Let us think for a moment about war graves. Robert has a grave shown here in France with a standard CWGC headstone, but not all war graves are in France or have standard stones. Some men returned injured but then died and are buried in Scotland, some of these had a standard CWGC headstone but other families preferred the names to be added to the family gravestone. Dalry and Carsphairn churchyards gave 2 war graves each and Balmaclellan one.

(slide – family gravestone)
Like many soldiers who died, Robert is also mentioned on the family gravestone in Dalry churchyard which in his case is right beside the entrance to the church. There are a total of 16 inscriptions to men who died on gravestones in Dalry churchyard. Many other men have no known grave as their bodies were never found and for these there are special memorials listing all of the men who have no known grave and these special memorials can be found at the major battlefields as well as some in Britain.

Robert had 2 brothers and 4 sisters, his brother Hugh also served in the Army but returned safely. His family continued to live in Craigielea – I believe into the 1950s and would have always seen the memorial each time they went through the front door. The parents’ names can still be seen in the village, as you leave Dalry going towards Carsphairn, a little way past Bone’s garage, there is a bench dedicated to Hugh and Esther Clark.

This is a newspaper report on his death. (slide – newspaper report – read aloud)

If he had lived then his great grandchildren would probably be here now as pupils of this school, perhaps sitting on those two empty chairs behind you.

Behind every name on every memorial is a story like this one, of a real person, a real family and a real loss. (slide – war memorials of the Glenkens)

There is a photostory showing on the school TV systems today showing all 27 war memorials of the Glenkens and the soundtrack is Flowers of the Forest which is a well known borders tune of remembrance.

A number of us throughout Scotland have a special interest in Scottish War Memorials and Scottish War Graves (including the memorial inscriptions on family gravestones) and are trying to put all information on the internet to preserve the memory of all of the soldiers, sailors and airmen from all wars.

Remember also the great number of men who were injured but returned alive and are therefore not listed on these memorials. Many suffered from their mental and physical injuries for the rest of their lives. I have said men, but women and sometimes children also died as a result of war and can also be seen listed on memorials.

The next time you pass a war memorial, please STOP………… and read a name…………. and pause for thought.

Adam Brown · Posted: Tue Nov 11, 2008 9:36 pm Post subject:

An excellent talk Paul, lots for the children to think about. I like the bit about the empty chairs.

Kind regards

Adam

spoons · Posted: Tue Nov 11, 2008 10:39 pm Post subject:

dhubthaigh · Posted: Wed Nov 12, 2008 9:03 am Post subject:

Well done Paul. I was very impressed with your presentation.

rgds.,
Mark