First World War

Inside: 24-page commemorative special supplement

Acknowledgements Dr Derek Patrick of the University of St Andrews and Great War Dundee; Dr Billy Kenefick of Great War Dundee; Tam McCluskey; Dr Michael Taylor; Andrew Jeffrey; Dr Iain Donald; Major Ronnie Proctor; Dr Tony Pollard of the University of Glasgow; Dr Norman Watson; Dave Dykes. Content: Caroline Lindsay Graphic design: Gus Proctor Sub-editor: Michael White

The Courier would like to thank everyone who has contributed to our special commemorative supplements since 2014, especially Dr Derek Patrick of the University of St Andrews and Great War Dundee and Dr Billy Kenefick of Great War Dundee. Dr Patrick in particular has been very generous with his knowledge and time over the years and has contributed a substantial number of articles, not only for the supplements but also for The Courier’s book, First World War: The Scottish Soldier’s Story.

Over the past five years The Courier’s commemorative supplements have highlighted the impact of the Great War across Dundee, Angus, Fife and Perthshire. While examining the major battles, events and personalities intrinsically linked with the First World War, the supplements’ coverage of the Home Front has helped provide a comprehensive account of events of 1914-18 in Courier Country.

The readers who have contributed so many stories have ensured the content of each supplement has had a deeply personal feel, with real relevance for the area. This has meant each publication has had particular resonance with local audiences. Most can relate to at least one of the featured stories. Many of these have focused on little-known aspects of the war which are often overlooked.

It is these local stories and accounts, outlining the experiences of our relatives – men and women from familiar cities, towns and villages – which bring the history of the Great War to life.

The war will always be synonymous, rightly or wrongly, with lengthy casualty lists. Behind each name on these lists there is an individual, a family and a story. The supplements have provided a platform for these stories of courage, sacrifice and endurance to reach a wide audience. This was a war that touched all ranks of society with a political, economic and social legacy that left an indelible mark on the nation, helping explain the enduring interest in the conflict and its lasting legacy.

The centenary of the Great War has spurred new interest in the conflict at both a national and local level.

Throughout the country events have been staged to commemorate dates which have particular resonance in the nation’s common memory. The battles of the Somme and Passchendaele have come to represent much of Britain’s wartime experience with the heavy casualties and conditions endured by the British Army shaping more popular perceptions of the First World War. While both had a huge impact on Scotland, it was the Battle of Loos which cast a long shadow north of the border. Launched on September 25 1915, Loos was remembered as a Scottish action.

The Great War had a huge impact on Courier Country. At home the role of women would change dramatically as men left for the front. In Dundee some 63% of eligible men served in the armed forces between 1914 and 1918. More than 4,000 would make the ultimate sacrifice. This contributed to one of the highest casualty rates in Scotland. Recruits in their hundreds passed through the Black Watch depot in Perth as men from across the country volunteered for active service.

In a Courier editorial dated September 14 1914 it was suggested that “at no time in its history has the popularity of the regiment been so emphatically demonstrated”. The newspaper’s correspondent reported on the large numbers of Fife miners in the queue: “Strong fellows, trained up to hard endurance”. The Fife mining village of Denbeath had a total population of 2,500 and by mid-January 1915 some 1,000 of its residents had enlisted. It was stated that there was “not one eligible young man remaining in the village”.

It is easy to become distracted by the statistics that illustrate the material and human cost of the Great War. However, it is only when we can appreciate the remarkable stories of courage, sacrifice, comradeship and endurance which lie behind the figures that we can start to fully comprehend the impact of the First World War.

These individual stories can be poignant or inspiring but collectively provide a much more nuanced account of the Great

War at a local level.

I have contributed a number of articles to The Courier’s war supplements. These have focused almost exclusively on the individual’s experience.

From Todburn Lane, the small Dundee thoroughfare which saw the war claim the lives of six of its residents by December 1914, to the charge of the Scottish regiments at Loos in September 1915 – “a grand advance but at great cost” – and the Black Watch’s attack on the heavily defended German trenches in High Wood on July 30 1916 which saw Private Andrew Haxton of the 6th (Perthshire) battalion win the Military Medal for gallantry but lose an arm in the process.

Following the end of the war and excitement tempered by loss that marked the announcement of the Armistice, communities turned their attention to suitable means of commemorating the fallen. War memorials are a lasting legacy of the conflict and are a public record of Scotland’s contribution.

There is an enduring interest in the war but it is the personal accounts and local stories that ensure memories will not fade.