Newburgh memorial in Fife has two names on the 1939-45 panel which stand out: J Cairncross and T Cairncross, both of the London Scottish.
Something of an interesting story. They were twins, and joined up with army numbers only one digit apart. They were both to die on the exact same day. Sadly while they are buried in the same cemetery they are not side by side.
The Daily Record and the Sun recently published articles on the Cairncross twins.
Article from the Daily Record.
Article from The Scottish Sun.
The paper version of The Sun had several additional photographs of the twins.
There is also some interesting information on the page for Newburgh on the Scottish War Memorials Project.
Sunday, 25 January 2009
Monday, 12 January 2009
Plans for 2009
The Scottish Military Research Group have got some plans for this year, as we aim to make ourselves known a little better.
The first plan is to attend a number of Family History conferences and fairs.
The first of these is the annual conference of the Scottish Association of Family History Societies, which this year takes place in Aberdeen. The following link has more details on date and location:
2009 SAFHS Conference
The second fair is taking place in June, in Dumfries, hosted by Dumfries and Galloway Family History Society. Their website has a page about the fair, but there is not much information online just yet. For more details contact the Society.
We have some other plans for this year, which we'll tell you more about at a later date. Watch this space!
The first plan is to attend a number of Family History conferences and fairs.
The first of these is the annual conference of the Scottish Association of Family History Societies, which this year takes place in Aberdeen. The following link has more details on date and location:
2009 SAFHS Conference
The second fair is taking place in June, in Dumfries, hosted by Dumfries and Galloway Family History Society. Their website has a page about the fair, but there is not much information online just yet. For more details contact the Society.
We have some other plans for this year, which we'll tell you more about at a later date. Watch this space!
And then there were three
One of the four remaining surviving British veterans of the First World War died on Saturday.
William Stone, who served in the Royal Navy in the First World War died in a care home in Sindlesham, Berkshire.
BBC News report
RIP Bill.
William Stone, who served in the Royal Navy in the First World War died in a care home in Sindlesham, Berkshire.
BBC News report
RIP Bill.
Monday, 8 December 2008
Welcome back to the Argylls
It's always good to see the welcome soldier get on returning home from a tour of duty.
City celebrates soldiers return
I think the armed forces are still not as appreciated as they could be for the difficult job they do, but news such as this is a step in the right direction.
City celebrates soldiers return
I think the armed forces are still not as appreciated as they could be for the difficult job they do, but news such as this is a step in the right direction.
Wednesday, 3 December 2008
Memorial stones stolen
I was hoping that this blog would start off with some relatively cheerful stories, but sadly that cannot be the case.
It has been reported that some memorial stones have been stolen from the Commando memorial at Spean Bridge.
Link to Daily Record report
The Commando memorial is one of my favourite memorials in Scotland, and this just saddens me. I wonder what the men who trained in the area would have thought of this, and what would they have done to the ratbags involved?
The Scottish War Memorials Project page on the Commando memorial
It has been reported that some memorial stones have been stolen from the Commando memorial at Spean Bridge.
Link to Daily Record report
The Commando memorial is one of my favourite memorials in Scotland, and this just saddens me. I wonder what the men who trained in the area would have thought of this, and what would they have done to the ratbags involved?
The Scottish War Memorials Project page on the Commando memorial
Tuesday, 2 December 2008
Welcome
Hello. Welcome. This is the blog of the Scottish Military Research Group.
The Research Group grew out of two projects which have been running for quite some time now.
The first of these, The Scottish War Memorials Project, was started in December 2006, and was a means for individuals with a shared interest in war memorials in Scotland to showcase the photos and information they had. It has grown to cover nearly 90% of al lthe civic memorials in Scotland, together with many hundreds of memorials in churches, schools, and other places.
The Scottish War Graves Project came about a little while later, and follows a similar method, this time covering all military graves in Scotland. We are unique in that we not only cover the burials of the two World wars, but all military graves both before the wars and after.
So what is The Scottish Military Research Group? Well, in a way it isn't really anything at all. It's the name for all the individuals working on these projects, and whatever projects they may do on their own. you might say we're a collective, in that we have no real organisation but we can all rely on the others to assist with research and knowledge. It's a group all working towards similar common goals. There are no membership fees, no committees, no books to balance. We simply help each other out and provide information when another of us might need it. It seems to work fairly well so far.
So why do we have a blog? Well, for various reasons. First among them is to get our name "out there". A little publicity can be useful. We're always looking for new blood, more people who have knowledge of areas we might be deficient in. We're also always looking for new projects to work on, and also volunteers for the projects we have. Our database of war memorials and graves might be getting bigger by the day, but the work goes on, and we always welcome more information on any of the memorials we already have.
Secondly, we thought this might be a good idea to highlight some of the interesting stories and bits of information we come across in our research. It's not uncommon to find a little story that proves to be of interest to others, and we thought it would be good to share these at large.
So...in future postings we hope to bring you some of the things we found in the past. One of our plans is to show just how much information there can be found behind a simple name on a memorial plaque.
We'll also try and highlight stories in the media with a slant towards Scottish military history.
In the meantime, take a look at our existing projects (you'll find links to them above). Feel free to sign up, say hello, and don't be afraid to join in. You'll be assured of a warm welcome.
The Research Group grew out of two projects which have been running for quite some time now.
The first of these, The Scottish War Memorials Project, was started in December 2006, and was a means for individuals with a shared interest in war memorials in Scotland to showcase the photos and information they had. It has grown to cover nearly 90% of al lthe civic memorials in Scotland, together with many hundreds of memorials in churches, schools, and other places.
The Scottish War Graves Project came about a little while later, and follows a similar method, this time covering all military graves in Scotland. We are unique in that we not only cover the burials of the two World wars, but all military graves both before the wars and after.
So what is The Scottish Military Research Group? Well, in a way it isn't really anything at all. It's the name for all the individuals working on these projects, and whatever projects they may do on their own. you might say we're a collective, in that we have no real organisation but we can all rely on the others to assist with research and knowledge. It's a group all working towards similar common goals. There are no membership fees, no committees, no books to balance. We simply help each other out and provide information when another of us might need it. It seems to work fairly well so far.
So why do we have a blog? Well, for various reasons. First among them is to get our name "out there". A little publicity can be useful. We're always looking for new blood, more people who have knowledge of areas we might be deficient in. We're also always looking for new projects to work on, and also volunteers for the projects we have. Our database of war memorials and graves might be getting bigger by the day, but the work goes on, and we always welcome more information on any of the memorials we already have.
Secondly, we thought this might be a good idea to highlight some of the interesting stories and bits of information we come across in our research. It's not uncommon to find a little story that proves to be of interest to others, and we thought it would be good to share these at large.
So...in future postings we hope to bring you some of the things we found in the past. One of our plans is to show just how much information there can be found behind a simple name on a memorial plaque.
We'll also try and highlight stories in the media with a slant towards Scottish military history.
In the meantime, take a look at our existing projects (you'll find links to them above). Feel free to sign up, say hello, and don't be afraid to join in. You'll be assured of a warm welcome.
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