Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Teen’s tribute in stone to fallen local heroes
AN Arbroath teenager has dedicated time off school to creating a unique tribute to hundreds of local men who fell during the First World War.
Eilidh Bowen, 16, has already designed about 170 individual memorial rocks and scattered them around the town for her Fallen Heroes project.
The project will also take in neighbouring villages, including Inverkeilor, Colliston and Friockheim.
The Arbroath High School pupil said: “When I started this I had no idea there would be so many but I’m going to continue until I have created a memorial stone for every person from the town that either died or went missing during the war.
“The main aim of the project is to make the community here more aware of the brave people from their area who fought in the First World War, who may have even lived in their street or house, and to bring the memory of these men who are perhaps buried under the battlefields, back to their homes.”
Elidh began Fallen Heroes in June, after looking at the Arbroath and District roll of honour.
“I think by the time I have finished I will have completed many more rocks. I’m only on page eight in the roll and there are about 20 pages in total,” she said.
“I decided I wanted to do something to commemorate all of them.
“I’ve been doing hours of research on men and women across the district who fell in the war.
“I’ve been reading their stories and taking down details to make a rock dedicated to each individual.
“So far, I have delivered 170 rocks across the town with a large number still to go.
“I’ll be trying to get as many complete as possible before school starts again.”
She added: “The rocks have addresses on the backs, showing where the men and women lived. My initial plan was to place these rocks at their houses or where their houses would’ve been without invading anyone’s privacy.
“However, over the weeks a handful of stones have gone missing so, to prevent them from being moved, I’ve grouped them into general areas such as parks and at the Abbey.”
Eilidh admitted, despite the great work already done, she was surprised by just how big a challenge she was taking on.
She said: “I don’t think I realised how much work it would be, but so far I have received a terrific response in the town so it is definitely worth it.”