Images of the Day - 29th April 2011

Another image from the collection of my wife's grandfather today. This one has a few unanswered questions, but we can at least identify the unit these men were serving in.

This postcard has an excellent view of the cap badges on display, and these men all appear to be serving with the Lanarkshire Yeomanry.

Apart from that, we have little else to go on. The men are all unidentified, and although we can see a shoulder title on the man in the middle, the picture isn't clear enough to read it.

As for the location...I'd like to think, given the regiment, that this was taken when boating on Lanark Loch, but there isn't enough background detail to confirm that. As for the white object in the background...I have no idea. A tent? A shed or some kind of pavilion?

So...another mystery photo, but an interesting one nonetheless. As before, if anyone has any ideas...please get in touch either through the comments here or by emailing us.

Click on the photo for a larger version of the image.

Plea for Lanarkshire Yeomanry monument in Lanark

An article from the Carluke and Lanark Gazette by Ron Harris highlighting the efforts to raise a memorial to the Lanarkshire Yeomanry:


Lanark should be the place where our area’s Forgotten Regiment is finally properly remembered.

Although the glorious Cameronians are quite rightly commemorated each year with a ceremony at a monument at their Douglas birthplace, there is hardly any reminder of another locally recruited army unit which made huge sacrifices for our nation – the Lanarkshire Yeomanry.

Now a group of ex-Yeomen and relatives of late members of the mostly Territorial unit disbanded after World War 2 want a proper memorial erected to the memory of the regiment.

And Lanark looks favourite to be the chosen site, it having been the Yeomanry's official base and home.


Indeed, the Royal Burgh still has full status as Lanarkshire's County Town throughout the unit's history.


The push to raise money to have the monument built is being organised by the Lanarkshire Yeomanry Group, formed a few years ago to research and promote the regimental history.


Now it has  written to every local South Lanarkshire Council member to ask for their opinion on a suitable location.


Many in the group favour Lanark as a natural monument site but councillors are being asked for their opinion on exactly where in Lanark it should be erected.


The secretary of the group, Agnes Doogan, says in her letter to them: "The regiment had its origins in the Lanark area of the early 19th Century and local men saw action in the Boer War, the Great War and in World War 2. Thomas Caldwell of Carluke was a member of the regiment and was awarded the Victoria Cross in 1917 for action on the Western Front.


"In World War 2 the Regiment was the nucleus of the 155th and 156th (Lanarkshire Yeomanry) Field Regiments of the Royal Artillery. Both units were in the heat of battle."


She went on to tell fo the sacrifices Yeomen suffered, particularly those in Japanese captivity, working as slaves on the infamous Death Railway.


She goes on: "It it our aim to have a permanent memorial to the men of the regiment sited in the Lanark area as this was the regimental base and the heart of the regiment.


"We are not seeking finance from the council but would appreciate its help in locating a suitable site for a memorial. Lanark Loch comes to mind as the regiment regularly exercised there and spent leisure time in this area.


"In addition, we wonder wether there would be a place for naming a street or some other public feature in South Lanarkshire - possibly in Lanark - after the Yeomanry?

"We believe that there is now considerable local sympathy for the sacrifice made by so many brave men from this area to be properly commemorated."

The Gazette will report on the response the Yeomanry Group receives from local councillors.

The Fife Military History Project

Among the many interesting people I met at the Fife Family History Fair on Saturday was one gentleman who has undertaken a very ambitious but fascinating project. I got hold of a copy of one of his "flyers", and I'm sure he won't mind me reprinting the text here for anyone who might be interested:

Did your Ancestors guard prisoners of war with the Fife Militia, ride in the Fifeshire Yeomanry or join thousands of others in the Volunteers guarding the Fife coast against the French in the Napoleonic Wars?

Did they join the Volunteer movement in the Victorian era and join the Fife Rifle Volunteers, Fife Artillery Volunteers or Fife Light Horse?

Did they join up in the Great War and serve in the 7th (Fife) Royal Highlanders, Fife Royal Garrison Artillery or Fife and Forfar Yeomanry?

The Fife Military Project is an attempt to gather as much information as possible about Fifeshire's Militia, Volunteer and Territorial past and publish a website that will enable their descendants to learn more about them.

To illustrate the kind of information that I am acquiring from archives here is an extract of one of my ancestor's pension documents transcribed from the National Archives in Kew.

"His Majesty's Second Battalion. Royal Regiment Of Artillery. Whereof the Marquis of Anglesey is Colonel.

These are to certify That Sgt Andrew Gordon born in the Parish of Balmerino in or near the town of Balmerino in the County of Fife was enlisted for the aforesaid regiment at Yarmouth in the County of Norfolk on the Twenty third Day of April 1805 at the age of nineteen for unlimited service from the Fifeshire Militia. That he has served for the space ofTwenty two years and two hundred forty four Days, after the age of Eighteen"

"To prevent any improper use being made of this discharge, by its falling into other hands, the following is a Description of the said Andrew Gordon. He is about forty two Years of Age, is 6 Feet, Inches in height, Black Hair, Blue Eyes, Dark Complexion; and by Trade or Occupation a Shoemaker"

My name is Richard Dickens and I've spent the last 7 years researching into Fife's military heritage and I'm hoping you may be able to help with this project.

Please contact me at fifemilitia@googlemail.com if you have any information, items, pictures or documents on relatives who served in the Fife regiments.

I will be ready to bring the Fife Military Project online in the next year starting with a complete database of every soldier who served in the Fife Militia from 1798-1855.

I wish Richard every success with his project, and I look forward to seeing the results of his research. I'll be contacting Richard myself to see what assistance the Scottish Military Research Group can provide.