As 1917 turned into 1918, celebrating was far from the minds of British People. World War One had taken drastic toll on lives and loved ones were still away at the front facing some of the fiercest fighting yet. No end was in sight to a war now in its fourth year, that was supposed […]
101 Years ago this week, Mr Stewart at Royal George in Bannockburn, received the news in March 1918 that his son, Sergeant James Stewart, of the l-6th Scottish Rifles, had been awarded the Military Medal for bravery on the field. Young James Stewart, who was only 22 years of age was a Blantyre man who, […]
Blantyre Soldiers fighting in WW1 won many awards and accolades but when a soldier at the front, John McKeeman did something remarkably brave and was not shown recognition by the army, local people later took it upon themselves to acknowledge his bravery. Lance Corporal John McKeeman, a soldier in the 1st Cameronians is the central […]
We know there were many thousands of men who were killed in WW1 but the women who severed in various occupations don’t seem to have received the same deserved recognition. What about Blantyre WOMEN who fought in conflicts? Catherine Connor was born in Blantyre in approx. 1894 and served with the Queen Mary’s Army Auxiliary Corps. Catherine died on 30 May 1918 aged […]
We can only imagine the horrors of war, and what state of mind many of the First World War soldiers were in when they were deployed to the trenches on the European Mainland. Blantyre man Hugh Boyle, from Auchentibber like other soldiers felt it necessary to draft a small will, knowing chances of death in […]
Remembering Blantyre WW1 soldier, Hugh Boyle His parents, James and Mary Boyle (nee MacKenzie) came to Blantyre from Bridgeton between 1896 and 1901. Employed as a coal miner, James and his wife moved to Peasweep Row at Auchentibber with their young son, Hugh Boyle, born in 1896. By 1901, Hugh had a brother James, aged […]
What a great WW1 photo of Arthur Leggat of Springpark, Auchentibber shared here by Isabella Fleming via Alex Rochead! I had wondered what the little separate satchels were for on the leather band around his chest? Carmen King Gallagher provided the answer by telling me, “Around 1903 the Bandolier was used in the Second Boer […]