The Scottish Military Research Group - Commemorations Project

[David McNay]

Located in Kelvingrove Park, Glasgow, this is the memorial to the men of the Highland Light infantry who fell in the South African War 1899-1902.

there is some damage to the statue. The figure used to be holding a rifle, but only a small fragment of this now remains. There is also a small amount of grafitti on the name plaque, and some of the lettering on the front of the memorial is missing.

Despite that, this is a very attractive memorial in a nice parkland setting.

[alexmaclennan]

This is what I recorded for the UKNIWM for the H.L.I. South African War Memorial, Kelvingrove Park, Glasgow


Main Dedication Inscription

TO THE MEMORY
OF
THE OFFICERS
NON-COMISSIONED OFFICERS AND MEN
OF THE
HIGHLAND LIGHT INFANTRY
WHO FELL
IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR
1899 1900 – 01 - 02
ERECTED BY COMRADES AND FRIENDS


Roll of honour on brass plaque. Names are arranged by Battalion, then rank, then alphabetically by surname. Initial and surname guven. One decoration is mentioned.

1ST BATTALION
CAPT. F.A. LAMBTON CAPT. J.W.A. COWAN D.S.O.
2ND LIEUT. C.P.M. CRAGIE-HALKETT 2ND LIEUT. L.H. GIBSON
COL. SERGT. W. KEEGAN SERGT. J. THOMSON LANCE SERGT. J. KING
CORPORALS J.DUFF A. LANG A.MORGAN G.E.WHITE

PRIVATES (5 columns)
A. ALLAN
T. BARRY
W. BIRRELL
R. BOWIE
T. BROWN
W. BROWNLIE
W. BURD
G. CADDENS
F. CADNEY
W. CALL
D. CAMERON
W. CAMERON
J. CLARK
H. COLEMAN
J. DAWSON

J. DEMPSEY
J. DICK
J. DOCHERTY
J. DUNN 5300
J. DUNN 5932
F.R. ELLABY
A. FERGUSON
E. HEMS
G. HUNTER
G. INGRAM
W. JOHNSTON
J. JOHNSTONE
T. JORDAN
C. KENNEDY
W. KENNED

J. KINLAY
T. KINNEY
G. KNOX
A. LANG
D. LINDSAY
G. LOUGHTON
J. McATEER
J. McDERMAID
H. McDEVITT
J. McDOWALL
D. McFARLANE
D. McGREGOR
W. McLEAN
T. McKENNA
R.C. McKENZIE

H. McKIBBIN
P. McNAIR
M. MALONEY
D. MAULE
A. MAYN
J. MELLON
A. MILLER
J. MILLOY
F. MORTON
G. MUIR
J. NIVEN
B. OWENS
R. PARK
J. PATERSON
J.T. PATTERSON

H. SIMPSON
W. SIMPSON
J. SMITH
R. SNEDDON
T. SPROUL
J. SWEENEY
W.D. TAYLOR
F. TRAVIS
J. VALENTINE
W. WARDROP
J. WATSON
H.W. WHITE
J. WINNING
J. WORKMAN

MOUNTED INFANTRY COMPANIES

LANCE CORPORALS J.T. ALEXANDER W.HENDERSON
PRIVATES (5 columns)

E.H.R. ALFORD
T. CLARK
J. DALY
J. EVANS

J.B. FIGGEST
N. FRASER
J. GALBRAITH

G. GIBSON
H. HOLDER
C. IMRIE

G. LENTON
K. MACLEOD
J. McNEIL

S.A.J. MITCHELL
J. WEATHERALL
G. WILSON

3RD BATTALION
PRIVATES (5 columns)

P. FLANNIGAN
A. FRASER
T. KYLE
A. LYON
J. McCONVILLE
J. McDONALD
A. MACKIE
H. MARTAIN
J. MOFFAT
J. QUINN
J. SHAY
J. TIBBS
G. THOMPSON
W. WOOD


4TH BATTALION
PRIVATES (one name per column)

F. CAIRNS
E. KELLY
J. KIRK
T. McFADYEN
J. STEWART


VOLUNTEER SERVICE COMPANIES

PRIVATE J. JAMIESON 1ST V.B. H.L.I.
PRIVATE R.A. McGILLIVRAY 2ND V.B. H.L.I.
PRIVATE A. DOBIE 3RD V.B. H.L.I.
PRIVATE A. GRAY 9TH LANARK R.V.
SERGEANT W. BLACK 2ND V.B. H.L.I.
SERGEANT J. COOPER 3RD V.B. H.L.I.
LCE. CORPL. J. WALKER 9TH LANARK R.V.
PRIVATE D.M. ROSE 5TH V.B. H.L.I.


The monument depicts a soldier or army scout of the HLI straddling a rocky eminence and is memorable both for his jaunty pose and for the attention given to the costume detail. The soldier is gazing intently. He used to hold a rifle in his left hand but only a little of it remains due to vandalism.

This freestone memorial by sculptor William Birnie Rhind (1853-1933) is the earliest war memorial in Kelvingrove Park and was erected to commemorate men of the Highland Light Infantry who fell in the South African ‘Boer’ War (1899-1902).

The soldier is larger than lifesize but is still less than 2m high as he is sitting. Overall height of the memorial is about 6m.

The lowest stage comprises loose boulders which graduate into a rock-faced ashlar ‘outcrop’ bearing commemorative inscriptions on the east and west sides, before rising again into more naturalistic rockwork. The west side contains the dedication and the east side the brass plaque with names of the fallen.

The association with the Highland Light Infantry is meaningful as volunteer regiments drilled regularly in Kelvingrove Park into the early 20th century. A further monument connecting Birnie Rhind’s work with Kelvingrove Park is the seated male figure of Science on the Art Gallery and Museum’s South front, West end.


Category 'B' Listed



alex
_________________
alex maclennan

[john burnett]

Thanks to David Burnett for these additional photos.

[David McNay]

The first photos in this thread were taken by me (I think) nearly nine years ago.

I paid a visit to this memorial recently and I'm pleased to see the missing lettering has been replaced and the name panel on the rear has had a bit of a cleanup.

[David McNay]

There are reports that this memorial was vandalised by someone with a hammer last night. The Lost Glasgow website has photos showing the feet have been removed and the facial features damaged.

Very sad to see. Hope the culprit is found and punished.

[spoons]

This memorial suffered significant damage in 2019 by hammers (as reported in previous post). Advice and a grant of £5000 for renovations was provided by the War Memorials Trust and a full page report of the damage and repairs is featured in the Feb 2020 issue of WMT's Bulletin. The memorial also features on the front cover. It was also cleaned and repointed.

If anyone is near Kelvingrove, we could do with some decent photos.

\Paul