DelBoy
Joined: 12 Jul 2007 Posts: 4858 Location: The County of Angus
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Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 5:21 am Post subject: Hamilton WW1 Roll of Honour Project |
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I see there's a project afoot to create a roll of honour for Hamilton WW1 casualties.
Article
Project aims to honour Hamilton’s World War One heroes
A MAJOR research project is underway aimed at properly identifying all those from Hamilton who fell during World War One.
A research team intend to publish a potted biography of each of the estimated 1250 services personnel from the town who made the ultimate sacrifice.
And the volunteers hope the results of their work will be available by 2014, on the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the conflict.
The research team comprise Lindsay Freeland, Janette Cameron, Mary Duncan, Jessie Hamilton, Mary Murray, Margaret McKenzie and Mairi Pollock.
They are working under the auspices of Motherwell-based Lanarkshire Family History Association and led by Joe O’Raw, from Craigneuk, who has compiled 30 books on Lanarkshire’s war dead.
Volunteer Lindsay Freeland (6, from Hamilton, was one of those who prompted the project.
He has already researched the death during World War Two of his father, James, who died aged 33 when his plane went missing in the Far East.
Mr Freeland and a group of other enthusiasts became involved in a project to research the backgrounds of his father and 10 other World War Two services personnel whose names are on the war memorial at Hamilton West Church.
Later, while visiting a church in Dorset, he went into a church there and came across a plaque bearing the names of those from the parish who died in World War One.
Below, in a folder, was a brief description of the soldiers and their background.
“That got me thinking whether we could do something like that for Hamilton,” added Mr Freeland.
Bob Stewart, chairman of LFHS, said: “These are people who cannot be forgotten. They gave their lives for their country and you have to record the past in all ways possible.”
Names of those who died are being collected from the memorial in Hamilton Town House, and from other memorials and plaques in churches, churchyards, schools, clubs, etc.
In addition names have been sourced from the Scottish War Memorial in Edinburgh and Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Mr Freeland said that even though extensive checks had been made, it was not known if all those Hamilton services personnel who died feature on the town’s war memorials.
That is why they require help from public in identifying any of the town’s World War One heroes whose deaths have not been recorded in that way.
They also require assistance in compiling a brief family history plus details of their social and military background and circumstances in which they perished.
Some of the names of those Hamilton services personnel that the research team already know of are printed on proceedings pages of this four-page pull out. Others will follow in next week’s Advertiser.
If you know of others from Hamilton who died in the conflict or can help the team with background details of those whose names are already known, please contact the research team. Correspondence, materials and photographs should be sent to Lanarkshire Family History Society, 47 Crosshill Street, Motherwell, or e-mail chairman-lanarkshire@hotmail.co.uk
The project has the support of the Advertiser and in the run-up to the anniversary of the start of World War One we will be printing regular reports on this project to honour our Hamilton heroes.
All the old photographs in this supplement, apart from the one on the front, were provided courtesy of the reference section at Hamilton Public Library.
Derek. |
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