School’s Second World War book recreated 17 years after huge blaze

Artefact lost in 2001 fire has been reproduced by members of former pupils’ association

A “beautiful” remembrance book dedicated to victims of the Second World War has been painstakingly recreated after it was destroyed in a school fire almost two decades ago.

Morgan Academy’s Roll of Honour for The Fallen of World War Two was lost after the school was devastated by a huge fire in March 2001.

Much to the shock of the community at the time, the interior of the grade A listed building was mostly destroyed, alongside much of the school’s artefacts.

Dedicated former pupils, however, recently decided to attempt to recreate the book, including the names of all 102 who died in the war between 1939 and 1945. This was made all the more difficult as no copy of the book existed.

Now after painstaking research and design over the past three years, the Morgan Academy Former Pupils’ Association will hand the book back to the school at a service next month.

Dr Stuart Allan, from the association, said members of the group had been “determined” to reproduce the book.

He said: “The group was tasked with sourcing historical information after the fire and that has taken a really long time.

It was a work of art beautifully created by the art department in the 1950s

“We decided to get to work on the book around three years ago with that time split between researching names and physically recreating the book. “It was a big, big task.”

The handover will coincide with the school’s 150th anniversary celebrations in November.

The event will come 17 years after the fire devastated the 133-year-old school, with the cause never fully established by Tayside Fire Brigade investigators.

The organisation’s report, however, did say the most likely cause was the use of blowtorches on timber by tradesmen working on the roof.

The aftermath of the fire left the school needing a £20 million facelift.

Information lost in the fire has slowly been sourced again with the book set to be one of the most poignant achievements to date.

Dr Allan added: “It was a work of art beautifully created by the art department in the 1950s.

“There was a page for each of the fallen – 102 from the school paid the supreme sacrifice – all laid out in exactly the same design.

“At the top of the page was the branch of the service, then the name of the casualty followed by the address and years at the school and the circumstances of death.

“Each page also bore the badge of the appropriate service or regiment.”

The handover will take place at Morgan Academy on Forfar Road on Friday November 9 at 11.30am.

Those attending will include representatives of the armed services, national and local dignitaries and families of the fallen.

Picture: Mhairi Edwards. Chemistry teacher Mike Mulholland and Stuart Allan with pages from the book which is still to be bound.