Strathblane Heritage has launched a project to research the lives of the community’s Second World War heroes.
The names of six of them appear on the local War Memorial, but little is known about their lives or how they died.
We have recruited a team of volunteers, who have undertaken to produce the stories of these men in time for next year’s 80th anniversary of VE Day. In March they assembled for a briefing at Strathblane War Memorial.
The attached photo shows, from L-R:
- Sylvia Armstrong
- Alastair Smith
- Pat Davy
- Jamie Millar
- Jim Rand
- Anne Balfour (Co-ordinator)
- Jude Gregor
- Al Fleming
Anne Balfour explained that as Strathblane War Memorial was, like most throughout Scotland, erected to commemorate the lives of those lost during the First World War, the names of those who died in WW2 were merely tagged on later and few records have been collected of their lives or their war service: “A few years ago, there was a local initiative to tell the stories of the 27 local men who gave their lives in the First World War. Now, with the 80th anniversary of the end of WW2 fast approaching, we feel it’s time to do the same for the six men whose names appear on our memorial, but about whom we know little.
“The project will also include Daniel Davidson, a seventh man, who died in 1946 and who has a Commonwealth War Grave in Strathblane Cemetery. The Holy Grail will be to track down family members who can share the memories of these men that have been passed down to them, maybe along with photographs, letters and memorabilia.”
Applications have been made to the Ministry of Defence and The National Archive at Kew for their service records. The team will work to capture both the personal and wartime histories of these seven men, using a combination of military sources and the more familiar genealogy databases used by family historians, such as ScotlandsPeople and Ancestry.
The Strathblane seven are:
Royal Artillery Gunner James Callander
Leading Aircraftsman Daniel Davidson
RNVR Lieutenant Andrew Maclean
RNVR Petty Officer Gilbert McKay
Royal Engineers Sapper Archibald MacNicol
Highland Light Infantry Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Pedder
RNVR Chief Petty Officer Alexander Turnbull
If anyone can provide information about any of them, please contact us via this website.