DOWN MEMORY LANE
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People will be gathering at war memorials across the UK on Sunday for Remembrance Day in honour of members of the country’s armed forces who have died in the line of duty.
Campbeltown War Memorial, an imposing column beside the Esplanade on the edge of Kinloch Park, is no exception and will be the venue for the town’s own commemoration.
The structure, a four-sided column made from roughly hewn grey granite blocks, was unveiled on October 20, 1923, at a service attended by the Duke of Argyll and the Lord Lieutenant of Argyll.
One hundred years ago, on November 1, 1919, an article in the Courier reads: ‘The War Memorial Committee has not been idle, though not much has been heard of their doings.
‘We believe that the result of the provisional appeal was such as to determine the committee to drop the idea of an extensive scheme including the erection of a building for utility purposes, and to concentrate on a memorial of monumental form in appropriate surroundings.’
The War Memorial Committee was formed at a public meeting on February 6, 1919. The original idea was to create a memorial for the whole of Kintyre but as each region wanted its own, the committee’s efforts were focused on ‘the landward and burghal areas of Campbeltown Parish’.
As well as Kinloch Park, among the sites which were considered at the time were ‘the square at Old Quay Head occupied by the Steam Packet Company and others’, which was ruled out ‘on the account of the expense of purchase’; ‘the ground opposite the library entrance lying between Hall Street and Shore Street’, which ‘had considerable support but was thought to be too enclosed’; and ‘the ground in front of Kilkerran Quarry extending from the lifeboat station to Knockbay House’.
The article said that the choice, therefore, rested between the Kilkerran and Kinloch Park sites, and invited members of the public to contribute their opinions on the matter.
It added: ‘His Grace, The Duke of Argyll, has made it known through Provost Lothian that he will grant a free site for the memorial.
‘We understand also that a sub-committee has been appointed to compile a list of the men who fell on service so that full facts may be ascertained and no name omitted.’
As well as commemorating those lost in the First World War, after which the cenotaph was built, Campbeltown War Memorial now also honours those who died in the Second World War, whose names are inscribed on the back and sides.
In the December 6, 1919, issue of the Courier it was revealed at a public meeting that the Esplanade was the preferred site, with no expenditure other than the memorial itself and no impeding traffic raised as points in its favour.