THE ARCHIVES

100 years ago

Sergeant James Gillies, Royal Scots, whose relatives reside at 46 Dudhope Crescent Road, was killed in action on September 2. The deceased was a well-known bass singer in the city, being a member of the Dundee Select Choir. He enlisted in January 1915 and five months later was drafted to France, while he was transferred to Salonika in December of the same year. Sgt Gillies was 37 years of age and prior to enlisting was employed as a printer with Messrs Burns & Harris.

50 years ago

John McGarty, Dunfermline Athletic’s 20-year-old right-half, received multiple injuries early yesterday when he was trapped for about two hours under his car in a field near Longridge, West Lothian. After firemen released him he was taken to Bangour Hospital where his condition was later stated to be “satisfactory”. He was to have played against Celtic in the Scottish League match today. His mother said that he was in good spirits and had even been cracking jokes.

25 years ago

Many television viewers in Dundee and Angus experienced disruption to their programmes due to a serious technical fault. The fault occurred at the Angus transmitter – the main transmitter for Tayside and Angus – which also feeds many relay stations throughout the two regions. Technicians were dealing with the problem, but warned that even after pictures were restored they would be on half-power and added that, due to the severity of the fault, transmission problems were likely to continue.

One year ago

A tiny Fife firm faces a battle against the world’s biggest cosmetics company over the use of the word ‘naked’. The Naked Soap Company in Dalgety Bay could have its trademark application blocked by L’Oreal. Its owner, Gary Lee Rushforth, said: “We can’t afford lawyers to fight it, but it’s unreal that they think they can own a word.” L’Oreal’s Urban Decay brand has a line of make-up palettes under the name Naked but Mr Rushforth says the word reflects the ethos of his business.