Scotland`s War Memorials
East Dunbartonshire
I have a large collection of War Memorial images, both in the UK and abroad and this section is due to be revamped with memorials listed in their respective regional locations etc*
Baldernock
|
Baldernock meaning 'Settlement of St Earnaig' is a small parish in East Dunbartonshire, situated between Milngavie and Bardowie, approximately ten miles to the north of Glasgow city centre.
|
The local war memorial, which sits outside the village church, has panels which list men from Baldernock and the surrounding area who died while serving their country in the First and Second World Wars.
|
|
Bearsden
This is the Bearsden War Memorial which overlooks the busy junction of Bearsden Cross, close to the line of the Antonine Wall. The substantial remains of a Roman bath house lie a short distance to the east. The memorial, by the acclaimed Liverpool-born sculptor Alexander Proudfoot (1878 - 1957), lists the men from the district who died in the Great War and was unveiled on Saturday 14 May 1924 by Sir Ian Colquhoun.
The bronze figures represent `The Triumph of Sacrifice` and show a winged angel, a symbol of Victory and National Consciousness, cradling the Nation`s Fallen youth. As was often the case, an additional panel was added to the base of the memorial to honour those military personnel who died serving during the Second World War.
|
|
Kirkintilloch
|
The Kirkintilloch War Memorial takes the form of an arched gateway which serves as the main entrance to Peel Park. James Fletcher, who was born in the town, became a leading industrialist in New Zealand and in 1925 he purchased the marble required for the memorial`s construction and paid for it to be shipped to Scotland. Bronze panels contain the names of those who fell in the Great War while additional panels were added on the inside walls to honour local military personnel who died during World War 2.
A Nursing Sister of the Queen Alexandra`s Imperial Military Nursing Service is included in the Roll of Honour from the 1939-1945 conflict. Janet Scott Portingale was one of 30 Army nurses killed on 7 December 1942 when the passenger liner S.S. Ceramic was sunk by German submarine U-515 west of the Azores. |
|
The U-boat`s commander Werner Henke was captured later in the war when U-515 was intercepted in the Atlantic by an American warship. In June 1944 Henke was shot and killed while attempting to escape from a POW camp in the USA and was buried in a military cemetery at Fort Meade, Maryland.
Looking towards Kirkintilloch`s main street from the park entrance.
Looking towards Kirkintilloch`s main street from the park entrance.
Milngavie
|
|
The Milngavie War Memorial, unveiled in 1922, stands in what is now the town`s main shopping precinct close to the archway marking the official start of the West Highland Way, Scotland`s first long-distance footpath. Panels affixed to the granite base record the men from the Burgh of Milngavie and District who fell in the Great War with an additional panel listing dead service personnel from World War 2.
|
|
|
|
The bronze figure of a female holding the Lamp of Liberty is by acclaimed Scottish sculptor George Henry Paulin (1888-1962). Paulin was responsible for many outstanding memorials including those at Kirkcudbright, Kirkcaldy and two at Beaumont Hamel on the Somme with the memorial to the 51st (Highland) Division within the Newfoundland Memorial Park being his best known work.
This portrait of one of Milngavie`s Great War casualties is held in the Imperial War Museum archives: Second Lieutenant George Henry Gordon Birrell. Unit: 9th (the Dumbartonshire) Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, died on 10 May 1915 at Ypres, Western Front. He was the Son of Col. John Birrell, of Allander House, Milngavie, Glasgow.
|
Twechar
text
Additional images and information can be found on my blog, Clydeside Images.com. Further War Memorial and Military History content, not exclusively relating to Scotland, may also feature in the galleries of individual countries on this site. Also, check out my Stock Photography Archive for even more shots.