Meet Adam Brown - The SMRG Team

We thought it might be a good idea to publish mini "profiles" of members of the Scottish Military Research Group. That way you get to know a little more about us, what our interests are, and what we're all about. The first "volunteer" is Adam Brown, who some of you may know is one of the administrators of the Group. Together with myself we are responsible for the running of the two main Projects (War Memorials and War Graves) and here Adam explains where his interest in all things military came from.

I am the wrong side of forty and as far back as I can remember I have been interested in military history. It's a long story but I think I can trace it all back to a pack of 1/32nd Airfix British Paratroops given to me when I was about five. I'll not bore you with all the details but thanks to Airfix models, 'Commando' books, and the 'Victor' and 'Battle' comics by the time I was a ten I was daft on the Second World War.

As a teenager my horizons were broadened by 'O' Grade and Higher History topics on the First World War and Nineteenth Century European revolutions and unifications. I also started putting together my own very modest collection of reference books. Growing up in East Sutherland meant any trip to Inverness included a trip to Melven's Bookshop in Union Street which always had a selection of Osprey Men-at-Arms books which were within my pocket money budget.

My student years and the years just after that were not years of plenty so book purchases tended to be from charity shops or car boot sales but it did mean I broadened my horizons further and I would read just about anything on military subjects from the Ancients up until the Falklands and First Gulf war.

That eclectic range of military subjects continues to this day and recent books on my reading pile have included books on Robert the Bruce, the Atlantic Campaign 1939-45, Earl Haig, The Berlin Wall, US Army forts in the 'Wild' West, Maps of Europe 1789 - 1914, and for light relief - Bernard Cornwell's "The Fort". I also subscribe to the BBC History magazine so I've always got a copy of that handy to dip in to.

I can probably trace my interest in war memorials back to the early 1990s. It was then that I first transcribed the names on my local memorial in Brora and started to try and find something about them. I was living 250 miles away from the memorial so I was a regular visitor to the Edinburgh Central Library to pour through old copies of Soldiers Died in the Great War and the CWGC registers. I was young, free and single and living in the Lawnmarket at the time so could visit the library every evening. There was no electronic searches in those days, I just scanned each dusty page looking for a name or a place name. As I came across another local town or place in an entry I would note the name and details down and before I knew it I was researching all the other memorials in Sutherland too. I'm not a genealogist, that doesn't interest me greatly but I am a 'delver'. I like looking through databases and registers and spent many happy hours in the back of the Central Reference Library before home PCs, CD-Roms and the internet changed the way I approached my hobby.

It wasn't just an interest in the names on a memorial though, it was an interest in the memorials as well. Perhaps the statues remind me of the Airfix soldiers from my childhood? Who knows. I guess when it comes down to it like most British males I'm a bit of an anorak but instead of trains or birds I happen to be a war memorial spotter!

The Royal Scots Club completes refurbishment

The Royal Scots Club in Abercromby Place in Edinburgh has recently completed a £1.5 million refurbishment, which was unveiled by the Princess Royal.

The Scotsman has an article about the club and the upgrade which is well worth reading.

With the recent closure of the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) Memorial Club, is this perhaps the only club of its kind in Scotland?

Who's Who in Scottish Military history - Adam Duncan, 1st Viscount Duncan of Camperdown

The Dundonian Adam Duncan is hardly known outside Angus and even there he is known mainly because his family gifted Camperdown Park to the city nearly 150 years after his death.

He really should be better known because his victory at Camperdown in 1797 was an overwhelming defeat of the Dutch Navy; which at the time was still a powerful fleet and a threat to the UK .

Duncan was born on 1st July 1731 in Lundie, a few miles from Dundee , into a prosperous local family. His father was Provost of Dundee between 1744 and 1747.

At fifteen Duncan joined the Royal Navy. Just in time for the Seven Years War which saw British ships fight for supremacy of the seas against the French and Spanish. There was a lull in his active service between the Seven Years War and the American War of Independence and then he served as a captain from 1778 to 1782 where he distinguished himself in various actions against French and Spanish ships.

In 1783 the war was over and he returned to Portsmouth and was promoted to Rear Admiral of the Blue. Over the next twelve years he was steadily promoted until in 1795 he was promoted Admiral and made Commander-in-Chief in the North Seas . Duncan ’s appointment was to a very important post. In the late eighteenth century the Dutch had one of the strongest navies in the world and with Holland under the control of the French it meant they were a threat to Britain and more importantly a threat to the Thames sea trade which ultimately paid for the Royal Navy and protected the country from Napoleon.

By 1797 Duncan had managed to blockade the bulk of the Dutch fleet in the port of Texel with only four ships. Keeping ninety five Dutch ships in port with only four ships pretending to be many more was a sleight of hand which would put Paul Daniels to shame. It couldn’t last though and autumn storms forced Duncan back into Yarmouth to refit.

The Dutch took the opportunity to head for the open sea. They weren’t actually going anywhere, it was just a political move to show that they were no longer trapped in port. It was a mistake they would soon regret. On 7th October 1797 Duncan left port again, this time with sixteen ships and on 11th October 1797 the two fleets met off the small Dutch fishing village of Camperduin in North Holland.

The Royal Navy took the advantage straight away and in a bold stroke Duncan ordered his sixteen ships to fight their way in between the eighteen Dutch ships and put themselves between the Dutch fleet and the coast so that the Dutch could not run away into port.

The fighting was a brutal slugging match with ship pounding ship but in the end the Royal Navy’s gunners were better than their Dutch equivalents and sunk nine ships. The rest of the Dutch fleet had been badly mauled and scattered out to sea.

In one day Duncan had effectively destroyed the Dutch Navy; a fleet which had been feared by the British for over one hundred and thirty years.

Duncan was a hero at home and was made a Viscount. His family thought he deserved an earldom (and that was granted to his son) but he was also awarded a pension of £2000 which was no trifling amount in 1797.

That was a fitting end to Duncan ’s long career but he didn’t have a long retirement. Old age and a punishing life at sea caught up with him and he died suddenly on 4th August 1804 at Cornhill in Berwickshire, and is buried in the churchyard at Lundie.

Apart from Camperdown Park in Dundee he is commemorated with a statue in his home town. It was unveiled in 1997 in Dundee , on the 200th anniversary of his most famous battle.

His name also lives on in the Royal Navy. The seventh HMS ‘Duncan’ a Type 45 Destroyer was recently launched on the Clyde. Appropriately it was launched on 11th October - the anniversary of the Battle of Camperdown.

You can see a video of that launch here:

Dumfries & Galloway Battlefield Guides

An article from the Dumfries and Galloway Standard about a new series of local battlefield guides:

As the centuries pass and ancient enemies long vanquished, the cold ground of a battlefield gives little away to the keen historian.

Dumfries and Galloway, so close to the coveted borders of England, Ireland and northern Scotland, has had its fair share of violence in the name of despots, dispute and desperation.

Invaded and counter-invaded for millennia, these lands have hosted the sites of many bloody skirmishes where clashing swords, pounding drums and the screams of the injured and dying could be heard for miles across the hills and forests.

Yet it is difficult to believe, when living and travelling in the now peaceful landscapes of Dumfries and Galloway, that so much blood had once been spilled.

Eastriggs author Stephen Maggs (pictured) has brought the region’s turbulent past to life in a series of books, the most recent being an account of the Battle of Sark on October 23, 1448, and the Battle of Dryfe Sands, December 6, 1593.

“I enjoy walking battlefields,” said Stephen, “but I get a little frustrated by a lack on information on them.

“I therefore decided to find out more by visiting local libraries (the staff at the Ewart Library in Dumfries are always a great help) and of course internet research.”

Forty-five-year-old Stephen, who is currently studying Higher Business Management at Dumfries and Galloway College, moved to Scotland from Worcestershire in 1989.

“I have always had an interest in the English Civil War, in particular the Scottish armies fighting alongside King Charles II’s royalist forces in 1650-1651.”

“In 2001, I led a campaign to erect a war memorial at Worcester near to burial pits containing the bodies of many Scottish soldiers killed in the Battle of Worcester in 1651.”

Stephen wrote a book listing the names of a few hundred Scots killed in the battle and has not stopped writing since.

Having always wanted to be an author, Stephen has had nine guides published and the current two are the first of six commissioned by Wigtown publishers GC Books.

He said: “I began writing about local battlefields and thought it would be good to see if a local publisher would be interested in them.

“I contacted GC Books via email and they were very keen.

“After reviewing my guides they asked if I’d like to write a series of six for them.

Dryfe Sands and Sark being the first two.

“Although these are less well known battles they were much more than minor skirmishes. The Battle of Dryfe Sands was Scotland's largest and bloodiest clan battle while the Battle of Sark was a great victory for the Scots and a humiliation for the English King, Henry VI,” Stephen explained.

Fought in 1448 between the Scots under Hugh Douglas and the English forces led by the powerful Percys, Earls of Northumberland, the Battle of Sark was brought about by a bitter and personal feud.

The victory put the Scots in a position of strength against the English for many years and led to such a rise in the power of the Clan Douglas that the Scottish throne came under threat.

The Battle of Dryfe Sands was also the result of a power struggle that had plagued the Borders for generations, this time between the Maxwells and the Johnstones.

In December 1593 the eighth Lord Maxwell decided to end the rivalry once and for all hoping to finally gain complete control of the Scottish West March, little knowing that his actions would lead to the biggest and bloodiest clan battle Scotland had ever known.

For his inspiration, Stephen walks the battlefields, tracing the footsteps of history to get a clearer picture of how they were lost and won and a ‘feel’ for the soldiers involved.

“I walk battlefields as often as I can,” he said. “This can be a great inspiration for it’s possible to see just what the soldiers saw when in battle: in many cases very little. In times of action soldiers really were very much alone, even though surrounded by hundreds of their comrades.”

Stephen then undertakes methodical research, trawling libraries and the internet as well as his own sources.

“I have around 1,500 books at home, on many military periods, which I get information from.”

For his knowledge on military tactics and strategy, Stephen has an unusual pastime.

He took up wargaming when at school in Worcestershire and now regularly writes articles and attends shows.

He said: “It is a fascinating hobby and helps one understand just how armies were formed and what tactics they used on the battlefield.”

Stephen puts his true inspiration for all things military down to his upbringing.

“My father was in the army when I was a child and I lived for a while on the military bases of Osnabruck and Beilefeld.

“He died in 1992 but will always be an inspiration to me.”

Stephen has already started three other guides: The Battle of Arkinholm, Langholm, 1455; The Fall of Dumfriesshire in 1651; and the well-known Battle of Solway Moss 1542.

“Once these guides are finished I will be writing a guide to Dumfriesshire’s castles, hill forts and motte and bailies etc, which could prove lengthy as the whole area is littered with them.”

“I would ultimately like to set up a local history shop to encourage battlefield tourism in Dumfriesshire,” he added.

The books Death of a King’s Man and Where True Valour is Only to be Seen are available from the GC Books’ website www.gcbooks.co.uk

West Dunbartonshire Memorial to be restored by October

From the Lennox Herald:

Vale veterans should have a new war memorial in time for this year’s Remembrance Day service.

The cenotaph at Christie Park, which is the biggest of its kind in West Dunbartonshire, is scheduled to be restored by mid-October.

The work will overhaul the dilapidated monument which has been subjected to vandalism and weather damage.

Plans include installing lights and a CCTV system, as well as erecting a new fence and gate.

And the cenotaph will also be repointed, cleaned, and new stone steps will be built around it.

The proposals have been drawn up by West Dunbartonshire Council in co-ordination with external agencies.

The work, which is set to go out to tender in the coming weeks, will cost around £120,000 in total.

A West Dunbartonshire Council spokeswoman said: “Design drawings have been produced for the restoration of the war memorial in consultation with Historic Scotland.

“Officers from the council’s architectural services section are currently developing tender documents for the scope of works.

“It is anticipated that work will start at the beginning of June 2011, with a completion date of mid-October 2011.

“Funding for this project will come from Entrust external funding.”

The Vale of Leven Remembrance Day Association has been given a copy of the masterplan and members have been asked to provide any feedback on the plans.

A report into the condition of the cenotaph, which is made from sandstone, describes the monument as being in relatively good condition but having suffered from “vandalism and weathering.”

The report reads: “The vandalism requires regular cleaning of the structure and all of this has caused loss of mortar from stone joints and loss of lettering on the slate panels.”

The memorial, which currently stands within Christie Park, was formerly known as the Bonhill war memorial and was officially unveiled in 1921. The B listed monument was designed by artist Sir David Young Cameron.

It includes the names of those from the Bonhill parish who lost their lives in both the first and second world wars.

Annually, veterans – along with local dignitaries – gather at the memorial to pay tribute to soldiers who have fallen.

The page covering this memorial on the Scottish War Memorials Project is worth a look, and features a transcription of the names.

Battle is on to commemorate Flodden on its 500th anniversary

From the Berwickshire News comes an article about plans to commemorate the 500th Anniversary of the Battle of Flodden.

Interest in the 500th anniversary celebrations of the Battle of Flodden in 2013 is beginning to grow and the group leading the project have organised a series of workshops to update people on progress so far and give them the opportunity to add their ideas.

Over the past few months interested groups on both sides of the England/Scotland border have been meeting to discuss raising the profile of the battle area near Branxton on the English side, resulting in plans for an eco-museum - a museum without walls which will connect the built, natural and cultural threads that are part of the Flodden story across Northumberland and the Scottish Borders.

This ‘eco-museum’ will link over 10 physical sites with strong associations with Flodden, including: Flodden Field (battlefield walks, interpretation, website); Norham Castle (besieged before the battle); Etal Castle (besieged/taken in 1513 complete with an exhibition of Border Warfare); Heatherslaw Corn Mill (mill working in 1513), Barmoor Castle (Surrey’s camp); Twizell Bridge (crucial river crossing point for English Army); Ladykirk Church (built by King James IV); Branxton Church (adjacent to the battle-site); Coldstream Museum; Coldstream Priory; Weetwood Bridge (river crossing point) and The Fletcher Monument in Selkirk (Selkirk monument erected in 1913 for the 400th anniversary).

EU Leader funding of £24,265 has been successfully applied for which will allow phase one of the project to get underway - establishing the web portal for the ‘Eco-museum’, signage for the initial sites connected with the battle, leaflets and other information led by project offices Chris Burgess and Jane Warcup.

The project team are also running a series of workshops to inform and encourage local people to get involved in this exciting venture and the quincentenary activities marking the Battle of Flodden in 2013.

The idea behind Flodden Eco Museum is to allow communities, projects, locations and events to retain their individual ownership but to be linked through a single brand, in this case the battle of Flodden and the 500th year commemoration in 2013.

A wide range of organisations from the public, private and voluntary sector (over 70) are already on board, such as the Coldstream 1513 Club, Coldstream Community Council etc and organisers are hoping to attract others who can offer their own perspective when it comes to marking this historical event, as part of a wider project.

The workshops scheduled to start next week will offer advice as to how this will work.

The events, which start at 5.30pm and finish around 7.30pm, will be held in locations across north Northumberland and the Borders:

Workshop dates: February 2, Glendale Gateway Trust, Wooler; February 9, Coldstream Community Centre, Coldstream; February 15, The Collingwood Arms, Cornhill on Tweed, (Cornhill/ Branxton); February 16, Black Bull, Lowick (Lowick/Ford/Barmoor); February 21, Salutation Inn, Shoreswood, Nr Norham (Duns/Ladykirk/Norham); February 22, County Hotel, Selkirk.

At each event project officers, Chris Burgess and Jane Warcup will be joined by other experts offering advice on a range of topics such as: eco-museums; funding sources; marketing and branding; interpretation and IT presentation on web portal (businesses, clubs and organisations); development workshop on new research (archaeology and history).

Coldstream & District History Society member James Bell has written a book on Flodden and has studied it for many years.

Explaining events and their historical importance he said: “The Battle of Flodden, or Branxton Moor as the English chroniclers called it, was the culmination of a short campaign by the Scots after their King, James 1V, declared war on England and its King, Henry VIII. The war became known as the Flodden war.

“At the Boroughmuir, the main Scots army were assembling, said by chroniclers of the time to number 100,000. This seems to be quite exaggerated, as the population of Scotland in 1513 was estimated to be only 500,000.

“Despite protestations from his Queen, James set off for the border, meeting the men of the Borders at Ellemford, just north of Duns.

“On August 21, James held his last Parliament on Scottish soil at Duns and on the 22nd, the Scottish army crossed the Tweed at Coldstream and Lennel.

“By invading England King James had broken the Treaty of Perpetual Peace.

“It is said King James got to within 10ft of Surrey before being killed by one of Surrey’s body guards, who fired an arrow through the King of Scots mouth.

“Around James fell almost the entire nobility of Scotland, and it is said, no household in Scotland did not feel the effects of Flodden. Darkness called a halt to the slaughter.

“Surrey berated his commanders for not winning the fight, however daylight revealed what was left of the Scots’ army had left the field, and the thousands of Scots’ dead, who had been stripped naked, littered the blood soaked ground.”

The Battle of Flodden proved a disaster for the Scots, as well as losing King James IV a whole generation of the country’s nobility was wiped out on Branxton Hill, September 9, 1513, when around 10,000 men lost their lives.

It hastened Scotland’s union with England, leaving the country exposed and leaderless.

Since the early 1950s the dead of both nations are remembered annually during the Flodden ride-out, the main event during Coldstream Civic Week when over 300 horses and riders follow the Coldstreamer and his right and left hand men across Coldstream Bridge and over to Flodden, where they lay a wreath at the Flodden memorial before galloping up Branxton Hill where it has become tradition for an oration to be given about the battle.

James Joicey of Ford & Etal Estates, has been heading the initiators group/steering group since 2008, and initial background work has been done by Peter Lewis, from Newcastle University’s International Centre for Cultural and Heritage Studies. Now they are widening the project out further as more individuals and groups express an interest in becoming involved.

A new documentary film about the Battle of Flodden is currently underway, as is the the acquisition of what will probably be the UK’s smallest Information Centre!

It is hoped to house the information centre in the old telephone box in Branxton. But while the telephone box may have a traditional appearance it will be high tech inside. The plan is that apps (computer software designed to help the user to perform singular or multiple related specific tasks) will be downloadable from internet access, givieng information about genealogical work and other activities.

Dr. David Caldwell from the National Museums of Scotland has indicated plans for an international conference on Flodden to be held in autumn 2011, possibly in Ford Castle.

Who's Who in Scottish Military history - Jane Haining

This is perhaps stretching the concept of someone with a "military" history, but on Holocaust Memorial Day, it is perhaps fitting to look at the life of one, and perhaps the most well-known, of the ten or so Scots who perished in the Nazi camps.

Jane Haining was born in 1897 in the small Dumfriesshire village of Dunscore. After being taught at Dumfries Academy, she gained further education in Glasgow before working at a threadmaker's in Paisley.

It was while attending a meeting about a Jewish Mission she told a friend "I have found my life's work". She subsequently worked at an orphanage for Jewish children in Hungary.

When war broke out in 1939 she was on holiday in Cornwall but she quickly went back to look after the children in her care. Despite numerous warnings by the British authorities, she refused to leave, saying "If these children need me in the days of sunshine, how much more do they need me in the days of darkness?"

When the Nazis invaded Hungary in March 1944 she was again told to leave, but again she refused. A month later she was arrested and charged with espionage. It is said she was also charged with weeping when sewing the yellow Star of David on to the clothing of the children.

She was imprisoned, then sent to a holding camp. Finally, she was sent to Auschwitz in May 1944 and tattooed with the number 79467. She died n the 17th July 1944, apparently from "cachexia following intestinal catarrh" - it is, however, said that she had been worked to her death.

Jane has never been forgotten for the sacrifice she made. Just last year she was added to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Debt of Honour register. There are also several memorials throughout Scotland.

The village of Dunscore has a small plaque which was originally in the Craig Church and is now in Dunscore Church, as well as a memorial outside next to the church. She is commemorated on the family gravestone in Irongray churchyard.

Dumfries Academy list her on a plaque of "notable pupils", and a memorial window to her is in Queen's Park Church in Glasgow.

Also in Glasgow can be found the medal presented to her half-sister when Jane was enrolled as a non-Jewish individual who is acknowledged as Righteous Among the Nations at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. It can be viewed free of charge at the St Mungo Museum of Religious Art and Life.

Jane's story has always had a personal touch for me. Jane's mother died when she was five years old. Her father then remarried a woman name Bena Maxwell. Bena was my great-great-aunt.

I was in occasional contact with Jane's half sister Agnes, or "Nan" as she was known in the family, until her death several years ago. She mentioned Jane a number of times in her letters, and I always got the impression in her words that she was immensely proud of her sister and the sacrifice she made. As am I.

Today of all days, we should take time to remember not just Jane, but all those who perished, in the hope that the events of those horrific times are never repeated.