THE ARCHIVES

100 years ago

Pte Wm. Martin, a son of Mr William Martin, 500 Strathmartine Road, Downfield, has died from wounds at a casualty clearing station in France. He enlisted in October 1915 in the Royal Engineers but was transferred to RGA in March this year. Pte Martin was formerly employed with the Dundee City Tramways as a conductor on the Downfield route. This is the second loss sustained by Mr Martin, a younger son, David, having been killed in France in 1916

50 years ago

Fife’s advance from reliance on the old, basic industries of coal and linoleum to the frontiers of industrial technology is given a nine-storey landmark in concrete and glass with the formal opening of Kirkcaldy Technical College. Mr William Ross, Scottish secretary, will perform the official opening ceremony for a building which is a blend of the modernised shell of the old technical college and its massive multi-storey addition – a £2 million scheme, reflecting a four-fold increase in teaching staff.

25 years ago

ANC president Nelson Mandela left Scotland yesterday admitting he had been “swept off his feet” by the warmth of his reception in Glasgow at the weekend. Speaking at his hotel before leaving the city, Mr Mandela said he had not expected to be so warmly received. Mr Mandela received the freedom of nine cities, districts and boroughs in a special ceremony at Glasgow City Chambers, including the freedom of the City of Dundee originally conferred when he was still imprisoned in 1985.