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Glenelg
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jamiemcginlay



Joined: 20 Dec 2006
Posts: 930
Location: Glasgow

PostPosted: Thu Aug 23, 2007 9:37 pm    Post subject: Glenelg Reply with quote

Glenelg - Lochaber District
UKNIWM Ref no. 6031

The Glenelg war memorial features a larger than life-size allegorical bronze figurative group set on top of a tall pedestal. The commemoration and names of the dead are listed on bronze panels fixed to the front of the pedestal.
The memorial and group were designed by the Scottish architect Sir Robert Lorimer who was also responsible for the Thistle Chapel in St. Giles Cathedral, and the Scottish National War Memorial among other projects. The sculpture was executed by Perthshire artist Louis Reid Deuchars.

Above - The Glenelg war memorial, photograph supplied and reproduced by the kind permission of Louise Boreham - Copyright Louise Boreham
The above picture gives some idea of the scale of this memorial and the grandeur of the surrounding scenery. This has to be one of the most striking and spectacular war memorials in Scotland, not just because of its striking design but because of its location. Driving over the Mam Rattigan from Loch Duich and the Five Sisters on single-track roads you round a bend and suddenly are confronted with this huge bronze group standing seemingly in the middle of nowhere in a spectacular site overlooking the Sound of Sleat.


Above - The sculpture by Louis Reid Deuchars. Photograph supplied and reproduced by the kind permission of Louise Boreham - Copyright Louise Boreham

Deuchars had spent his career working as a highly skilled artisan executing small scale works for architects such as Lorimer and working as assistant to the great sculptors of the day. He finally got his chance to execute a large scale work of his own when Sir Robert Lorimer handed him the commission to model the sculpture for the Glenelg war memorial to Lorimer's own design. This featured an Angel representing 'Peace and Victory', with a Cameron Highlander coming to the aid of a female figure symbolising 'Stricken Humanity'.
After the Great War the owner of the local estate at Glenelg, Lady Scott, wished to commemorate her son and the other local men who had been killed in the conflict. She offered to provide the funds for either a war memorial or for a much needed pier to serve the community. The community voted for a war memorial and Sir Robert Lorimer was approached to carry out the design.
Deuchars took two years to model the group before it was taken to London for casting. During the journey to London the Angel's head was badly damaged and she was given more hair than Deuchars intended in order to cover up the damage.
The monument has come in for considerable criticism over the years and the composition can certainly appear a bit theatrical to modern eyes but it has been fiercely defended by the people of Glenelg. The fact that the local people voted for such a memorial instead of a pier at a time of economic recession might seem hard to understand in a consumer age, but at the same time it demonstrates just how powerful the need was to commemorate and remember the men who had died in the post-war years and perhaps says more about the critics than the folk who made such a decision.
There is more information on Louis Reid Deuchars in the 'Sculptors' section of the forum.


WWI ROLL OF HONOUR:
CAMERON DONALD CAMERON HIGHLANDERS PRIVATE 7TH CAMERONS
CAMERON MALCOLM CAMERON HIGHLANDERS PRIVATE 7TH CAMERONS
CHISHOLM ALASTAIR SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS PRIVATE
CHISHOLM ALEXANDER MERCHANT NAVY SECOND MATE S.S. GRENADIER
FLEMING VALENTINE OXFORDSHIRE YEOMANRY MAJOR DISTINGUISHED SERVICE ORDER M.P.
FLETCHER FARQUHAR SCOTTISH RIFLES PRIVATE 2ND SCOTTISH RIFLES
FRASER DONALD CANADIANS PRIVATE 74TH BATTALION CANADIANS
GRAHAM MURDOCH CANADIANS SAPPER CANADIAN ENGINEERS
HEBELER ROLAND STUART THE QUEEN'S REGIMENT CAPTAIN 7TH BATTALION
MACLEAN FINLAY NEW ZEALANDERS RIFLEMAN NEW ZEALAND RIFLE BRIGADE
MACLEAN MURDOCH KING'S OWN SCOTTISH BORDERERS PRIVATE
MATHESON ALEXANDER NIXON CAMERON HIGHLANDERS PRIVATE 4TH CAMERONS
MCASKILL ALLAN CAMERON HIGHLANDERS PRIVATE 6TH CAMERONS
MCASKILL ANGUS CAMERON HIGHLANDERS LANCE CORPORAL 6TH CAMERONS
MCASKILL DONALD SCOTTISH HORSE SERGEANT 1ST SCOTTISH HORSE
SCOTT GEORGE HENRY HALL THE QUEEN'S REGIMENT CAPTAIN 7TH BATTALION



WWII ROLL OF HONOUR:
GARDE KENNETH CAMERON HIGHLANDERS PRIVATE
MACCRIMMON DONALD IAIN ROYAL NAVY ABLE SEAMAN
MACINNES PETER JAMES ROYAL AIR FORCE SERGEANT AIR GUNNER
MACINTOSH DONALD CAMERON HIGHLANDERS PRIVATE
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jamiemcginlay



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PostPosted: Thu Aug 23, 2007 9:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The first names listed on the memorial is that of Valentine Fleming, father of Ian Fleming the author and creator of James Bond.

Name: FLEMING, VALENTINE
Initials: V
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Major
Regiment/Service: Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars
Unit Text: "C" Sqdn.
Age: 35
Date of Death: 20/05/1917
Awards: D S O, Twice Mentioned in Despatches
Additional information: Son of Robert Fleming; husband of Evelyn C. Fleming, of 118, Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, London. Member of Parliament for South Oxon, and father of Ian Fleming the creator of "James Bond, Secret Agent 007".
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: II. E. 40.
Cemetery: TEMPLEUX-LE-GUERARD BRITISH CEMETERY
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Adam Brown
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 8:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

What is Fleming's connection to Glenelg? I also thought his father was a KOSB during the war.

Adam
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dhubthaigh
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 2:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Born in Fife, Scotland, Valentine Fleming was the son of wealthy Scottish banker Robert Fleming, founder of merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co. He was married to Evelyn Ste Croix Fleming (née Rose) and was the father of Peter Fleming, Ian Fleming (the novelist who wrote the James Bond books), Richard Fleming and Michael Fleming.

From 1906 to 1911, the family lived at Braziers Park close to Wallingford. On election to parliament, they moved to Pitt House on Hampstead Heath in 1910. He was a Member of Parliament for Henley from 1910 to 1917. In 1914 they built a house at Arnisdale, near Kyle of Lochalsh in the Scottish Highlands.

In 1914, Valentine joined the Oxfordshire Yeomanry, rising to the rank of Major.

During World War I, he wrote to close friend Winston Churchill in 1914. The following is an excerpt:

Imagine a broad belt [of land], ten miles or so in width, stretching from the Channel to the German frontier near Basle, which is positively littered with the bodies of men…in which farms, villages, and cottages are shapeless heaps of blackened masonry; in which fields, roads and trees are pitted and torn and twisted by [artillery] shells...

He was killed by German bombing in Gillemont Farm area, Picardy, France on May 20, 1917. For his service, Valentine was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Order.

Fleming's obituary was written by Churchill.
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Adam Brown
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 09, 2007 8:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

From the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) website

Glenelg War Memorial

Type of Site: War Memorial
NMRS Number: NG81NW 45
Map reference: NG 8097 1919
Parish: Glenelg (Skye And Lochalsh)
Council: Highland
Former District: Skye And Lochalsh
Former Region: Highland

Site Summary

War Memorial, Sir Robert Lorimer and Louis Reid Deuchars (sculptor), 1920. Splendidly vigorous bronze sculpture of a Cameron Highlander, beseaching female figure and winged Peace raised upon a stone plinth against the Sound of Sleat. Closer observation reveals symbolism of an epic tragedy: a strangled dove, smashed crown and ruptured drumskin. The soldier looks more forlorn than victorious, and winged victory is holding her laurel wreath well out of reach.

[Lorimer's handling of the Glenelg War Memorial commission caused a battle among sculptors of the Royal Scottish Academy, and an unsuccessful attempt was made to block his election to full membership of the board. There was protest that this major commission had not been offered openly to RSA sculptors: Lorimer had asked the talented inebriate Deuchars (1870-1927), who had worked with G. F. Watts, to prepare the design, and thereafter paid him £6 a week to sculpt it, taking care of all other expenses himself, and managing the various stages of its casting.]


Taken from "Western Seaboard: An Illustrated Architectural Guide", by Mary Miers, 2007. Published by the Rutland Press
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dhubthaigh
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 26, 2008 1:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

BLAIRGOWRIE ADVERTISER: 26.05.1917
GLENSHEE

The many friends of Mr Robert Fleming, financier, a native of Glenshee, will regret to hear that his elder son, Major Valentine Fleiming, M.P., has been killed in action.
Born 35 years ago at Newport, Fife, before Mr Fleming removed from Dundee to continue his financial career in London, Major Fleming, along with his brother, Major Philip Fleming, who is serving in the same regiment in France, assisted his father in the development of his great business.
He enetered the House in 1910 as a Unionist member for South Oxfordshire, and was a popular, though unobtrusive member of the party.
Major Fleming had been serving since the early days of the war. He was home on leave quite recently, and attended the private sittings of the Commons. It was his intention to resign his seat in Parliament at a convenient early opportunity. His uncle, Sir John Fleming, also a Glenshee native, the new member for South Aberdeen, has three sons on active service.
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Keptie



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PostPosted: Sat May 16, 2009 5:17 pm    Post subject: Glenelg Reply with quote

Roll of Honour for Skye & Lochalsh by Graham Ross . Copies held at Portree Library & Inverness library.

Glenelg War Memorial:

The Memorial is situated fo the south of the village , on the shores of Glenelg Bay with its back to the Isle of Skye and was commissioned by Lady Scott, formerly of Eileanreach. The Memorial bears the name of her own son , as well as the other men from the district who had died in the Great War. The Glenelg Memorial is by far the most elaborate of the Memorials in the area and consists of a bronze group of three figures , a Cameron Highlander , and a female figure kneeling before the Angel of Peace. The Memorial was dedicated on Saturday 23 October 1920 and was unveiled by Sir Harmood Banner, the Local Member of Parliament , and his wife lady Banner.


-----

I did hear that Lady Scott asked the residents if they wished a Memorial Hall or a War Memorial and they decided on the latter ..



Patrick W Anderson
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PostPosted: Fri May 21, 2010 9:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote


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PostPosted: Fri May 21, 2010 9:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote


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PostPosted: Fri May 21, 2010 9:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote


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PostPosted: Fri May 21, 2010 9:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote


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PostPosted: Fri May 21, 2010 9:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote


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PostPosted: Fri May 21, 2010 9:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote


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