Pictured around 1920 is the High Blantyre War Memorial commemorating those who were killed during World War One. The memorial, in the shape of a cross, is decorated with wreaths and union flags. The dates ‘1914’ and ‘1918’ are just visible as is the tribute ‘OUR GLORIOUS DEAD’.
The former memorial was situated at the entrance to Bellsfield Farm, High but is now replaced by a more modern one in Blantyre Cemetery in South Lanarkshire.
You can clearly see how fresh this was in the minds of Blantyre people. Many, many wreaths of flowers lay at the memorial base, compared to today.
The Great War – or World War One – was fought between the Central Powers (Germany, the Austro-Hungary Empire, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria) and the Allied Powers (who included Britain, France and Belgium). War broke out in 1914. A truce was declared with the signing of an Armistice in 1918. A formal state of war between the two sides continued until the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in June 1919. During the conflict, about 6 million Allied soldiers were killed and about 4 million soldiers from the Central Powers.
Update: I have been informed today (29/6/14) that these words, found in Hamilton reference library, were written by two men named Charlie Neilson and Gordon Cook and given the connection the information came from to those people, i should point out that the article is their work and wonderful to be able to find the source of original information.