Restoration plan for Lanark Memorial Hall

From today's Glasgow Evening Times

News of work planned for the Lanark War Memorial Hall which is curently closed

Memorial hall rescued by £5m restoration plan

Stef Lach
1 Apr 2011

A £5million restoration plan will breathe new life into a town’s memorial hall.

Work will see the restoration, refurbishment and an extension built at Lanark Memorial Hall.

Mansell Construction Services Ltd is working on the Grade B listed building on behalf of South Lanarkshire Council.

The building has been unused since October 2008 when it closed.

The money was raised by the council with contributions from the Heritage Lottery Fund and Historic Scotland.

The hall was built in 1926 in memory of the 232 local men who lost their lives in the First World War.

The project will involve members of the community and schoolchildren in researching and developing a timeline and electronic display of information on local heritage.

Colin McLean, head of the Heritage Lottery Fund in Scotland, said: “This grand old hall has served the community well for over 90 years.

“It is interwoven with the history and cultural traditions of the town.

“These works will repair and transform it into a contemporary facility so that it can continue to involve, delight, educate and entertain people for many years to come.”

Councillor Hamish Stewart said: “This marvellous facility will give Lanark an excellent arts venue to accommodate the cultural life of the town and the surrounding area.”

Telling tales of Blair Atholl soldier Donald McBeath - Talk on Wednesday 13th April at Blair Atholl

From today's Courier

Telling tales of Blair Atholl soldier Donald McBeath:

The life of the soldier whose striking image adorns the "Welcome to Blair Atholl" road sign will be commemorated at a talk this week.


By Alan Richardson
Published in the Courier : 11.04.11

Blair Atholl celebrates famous son Donald McBeath

Atholl Highlander, Donald McBeath became known as ‘the Father of the Highlanders' and is fondly thought of throughout the area.

Atholl Country Life Museum will host Jane Anderson from the Blair Castle Archives in the Atholl Arms Hotel, on Wednesday, at 7.30pm, to tell the story of his life. Admission is £4.

Born in 1831, eight miles into the hills from Blair Atholl at Ruidhe na Coillich almost in the shadow of Ben a ghlo, he started work at an early age herding cattle and as a ploughman.

After gaining distinction in his youth in the Crimean War as a sharp shooter and for saving life under fire, he then became an Atholl gamekeeper.

The Duke of Atholl appointed him sergeant major in his private army, the Atholl Highlanders, and as part of an escort party to Queen Victoria through Glen Tilt, the monarch noted in her diary "he was a man of presence and a fine-looking man, as all the Duke's men are".

The museum's John Cameron said, "By the telling of Donald's story in this the 100th anniversary of his death, he will not only be known as a Highlander on a road sign but will become alive and recognised as a remarkable character in Atholl's heritage."

Mr Cameron is also keen to hear from any possible descendants of Donald McBeath.

Gordon Highlanders living history group visit Erskine Hospital

A piece in today's Glasgow Evening Times about a Scottish Great War re-enactment group The Gordon Highlanders 1914-1918

Fundraisers visit Erskine veterans

11 Apr 2011


A living history group preparing for a charity walk have visited ex-Service men and women cared for by veterans’ charity Erskine.

The Gordon Highlanders 1914-18 wore First World War uniform and treated the veterans in Bishopton to a marching display.

The group hopes to raise £10,000 for Erksine during a 65-mile march from Buckie to Aviemore in June to mark the 95th anniversary of the charity and the Battle of the Somme.

A group spokesman said the visit highlighted Erksine’s “wonderful work”.

Calgary Soldiers Memorial Unveiled

From the Calgary Sun. A new war memorial has been unveiled in Calgary.

Many of the men commemorated for the First World War would have been Scots such as William McCubbing of Beeswing near Dalbeattie who had been in the Calgary Rifles and died of wounds in France in 1918 whilst serving with the 50th Bn CEF.

Emotions stoked with soldier memorial unveiling
By DAVE DORMER, Calgary Sun

Last Updated: April 9, 2011

We lived.

Felt dawn.

Saw sunset glow.

Unveiled Saturday just west of the 10 St. bridge, those words are etched on the Calgary Soldiers’ Memorial — six large, stone tablets engraved with the names of more than 3,000 soldiers from six Calgary regiments killed in First and Second World Wars and Afghanistan.

Three of those names — Sgt. Arthur Knight, Pvt. Harry Brown and Pvt. John Pattison — are recipients of the Victoria Cross, the highest military honour awarded by Commonwealth countries.

“It’s, really, really important for us to have these things so we can reflect on them individually,” said Michael Hornburg, whose son, Nathan — a member of the King’s Own Calgary Regiment — was killed Sept. 24, 2007 in Afghanistan.

“I think, even for myself, who remembers my son every hour and moment of the day, to come to a site like this, it’s a very, very powerful reminder that all these losses ... I know they meant something to lots of people who were close to individual soldiers and I wouldn’t want any of them to ever become a mere statistic.”

The christening comes on the 94th anniversary of the Canadian attack in France that wrested Vimy Ridge from its German defenders.

Part of the Memorial Drive Landscape of Memory, the monument is across from Mewata Armoury, where many of the soldiers whose names are now etched on the tablets trained.

“I’m just so overwhelmed by it,” said Hornburg.

“Every single panel is a work of art in an of itself, they’ve very beautiful.”

The memorial should be meaningful to everyone who sees it, said Lt. Col. (ret.) Bill Schultz, who served 42 years with the Lord Strathcona’s Horse regiment.

“I hope they get a sense that the freedom that they enjoy now and in the future did not come without a cost,” he said.

“I know people say they don’t want to have an election now, but at least we can have an election.

“The ability to run down the bike paths, the ability to go cycling, the ability to go up to the mountains, all of that was bought with a price and those names on that wall gave the price.”

The memorial includes all army reserve units based in Calgary — the King’s Own Calgary Regiment, 41 Combat Engineer Regiment, 746 (Calgary) Communications Squadron, Calgary Highlanders, 14 (Calgary) Service Battalion and 15 Field Ambulance.

Spean Bridge Commando Monument - A featured memorial

 
Today's featured memorial is one of the best known monuments in Scotland. I saw it on the BBC website the other day in a piece about Johnny Ramensky, the safe-cracker turned Commando, and thought it should get a blog post.

Even if people don't actually know where Spean Bridge is (it is near Fort William), they know why it is there. During the Second World War the Commandos had their main training camp at Achnacarry castle, part of Cameron of Locheil's Lochaber estate.

When new recruits for the Commandos got off the train at Spean Bridge railway station they had to march seven miles to Achnacarry past the junction of the A82 and B8004. In 1952 the Queen Mother unveiled Scott Sutherland's magnificent memorial to the commandos at this, the most scenic point of their journey with views to Ben Nevis and Aonach Mòr. As it says on the plaque on the plinth, "This country was their training ground".

I remember visiting it as a child and being overawed by it. Scott Sutherland got it just right and you can see why he won the design competition. I doubt if the great Scottish sculptor Alexander Carrick (one of Sutherland 's tutors) could have captured the Commandos so perfectly in bronze.

Even the inscription on the base could not have been bettered: "United We Conquer". This reflects the multi-ratial and inter-service aspect of the wartime Commandos. There were soldiers, sailors, marines; British, French, Dutch, Belgian, Norwegian, Polish, Czech, Yugolsvian and even German and Austrian Jewish Commandos. All were united in their desire to beat the Nazis.

The Commandos left Achnacarry after the Second World War and the army and foreign commandos disbanded. It was up to the Royal Navy and specifically the Royal Marines to continue to wear the green beret.

In recent years this war memorial to brave men of the Second World War has taken on a new meaning. People who had no connection to the Second World War Commandos travel to Spean Bridge to leave a tribute to their own fallen Commando. A memorial garden has been built nearby for these small tributes for men who died in the Falklands, Iraq and Afghanistan, or men who served for many years as a Royal Marine Commando and have recently passed away.

Modern RM Commandos are trained, based and serve many miles away from Spean Bridge; but their spiritual home is the land above the River Spean overlooked by three powerful bronze warriors.

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.

Ramage hunts for hero's war medals

An article by Ross Thomnson which appeared in the Carluke and Lanark Gazette this week. An interesting tale of a highly decorated man. Strangely the article makes no mention of the Croix de Guerre which Ramage is listed as having won on the St John's United Free Church roll of honour. In addition to this memorial he is also listed on the Carluke memorial as well as being commemorated on the Menin Gate.


A Carluke man is searching for the medals won by a WW1 hero he was named after.


Ramage Kelly, 76, who now lives in Motherwell, is interested in sourcing the medals of hero Arthur Ramage, who was killed in 1917.


Ramage is rightly proud of his namesake and has been left wondering where his war medals, of which there are many, ended up.


He said: "I was watching the TV one afternoon and there was a man showing off medals that had been won during the war. It got me to thinking about what happened to the medals won by Arthur Ramage.


"I know that when I was growing up in Carluke the medals were held by the Toc H Organisation, which met in Ramage House, next to St Andrews Church, but that was torn down in the 1950s I believe.


"It wouldbe nice if someone in the area has the medals.


"When I was growing up he was always talked about warmly, especially after what he achieved."


Arthur Ramage was born in Chapel Street, Carluke, in January 1892.


Prior to the war he resided with his aunt in Chapel Street.


He served with the local Territorials (12th HLI) before setting off for France in 1915.


On September 25 of that year, at the Battle of Loos, he was awarded the Military Medal for bravery after rescuing several severely wounded soldiers.


For saving the life of his officer while under a hail of enemy fire, a Bar was added on October 31, 1916.


The Distinguished Conduct Medal was awarded to him on July 15 1917 for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty during the reconnaisance of a farm, held by the Germans. Arthur had volunteered and made a reconnaisance to a farm, which was held by the enemy.


He succeeded in reaching the enemy trenches which were held in some strength.


However, while returning from yet another successful engagement, on 1st August 1917, he was shot by a sniper's bullet and was killed. He was just 25 years old.


Arthur is commemorated on the Menin Gate memorial at Ypres and was one of the most decorated soldiers of WW1.


Carluke named four streets after its war heroes. Three of them were for Victoria Cross winners - William Angus, Donald Cameron and Thomas Caldwell - and the other was Arthur Ramage.


Many locals over the years have said that the reason Ramage Road was the longest of the three was because Arthur was held in such regard.


It was felt that he should have been awarded the Victoria Cross for his bravery.


Christine Warren, from Carluke Historical Society, said: "Arthur Ramage is a big part of the history of Carluke and is often talked about in the same vein as our three VC winners.


"He had a highly distinguished military career".