An artist’s war

The next meeting of the Western Front Association Tayside branch takes place on Saturday March 17 at 2.30 pm when the speaker will be Phyllida Shaw. Phyllida will speak on ‘An Artist’s War’.

At the start of the Great War, Morris Meredith Williams was living in Edinburgh with his wife Alice, a sculptor, and earning his living from book illustration and teaching. In 1915 he was commissioned into the 17th Battalion of the Welsh Regiment.

Never without a sketchbook and pencils in his pocket, he drew at every opportunity, producing a record of his surroundings – scenes in the trenches that were never captured on camera.

After the war some sketches became oil paintings while others inspired war memorials in stone, bronze, wood and stained glass. The most notable one perhaps was for the Scottish National War Memorial in Edinburgh Castle on which he and Alice worked together. The memorial window in St John’s Kirk, Perth is also their work.

Phyllida Shaw is a freelance journalist, researcher and writer who has worked in the cultural sector for 30 years. She was left Morris Meredith Williams’ sketchbooks and letters by his second wife, her great aunt.

The meeting will be held in the Glasite Hall, King Street, Dundee and is open to all with an interest in the First World War. Further details can be obtained from Mike Taylor at 01821 650292.

The work of Morris and Alice Meredith Williams at the Scottish National War Memorial. See more above.