The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Bid to name streets after orphans killed in action
Tribute proposed at development on outskirts of Dundee
Orphans killed in action in the Second World War are set to be honoured as part of the Western Gateway development on the outskirts of Dundee.
Councillors in the city will be asked to approve proposals to name four streets after the men raised in the Carolina House orphanage.
Soldiers of The Black Watch Peter Cant and Albert Knowles, Royal Scots soldier Victor Young and James Grant from the Royal Army Ordnance Corps all spent time in the orphanage as children.
As they were serving in the war as adults, a later generation of orphans were evacuated to House of Gray, close to where the new homes are being built.
Lochee Labour councillor Michael Marra, who put forward the suggestion, said the move would be a fitting tribute to the men.
He said: “I was struck by the contrast of the children of Dundee being evacuated to the safety of a stately home with the wartime experience of former residents of the orphanage.
“There is a particular poignancy to the sacrifice of these four young men. They all fell into great hardship in their early lives. They might have been bitter or regretful and yet they gave up all the possibilities of their future to protect us all and to liberate the world from fascism,” he said.
“We often name streets for great figures and great events. We should also honour the common decency and sacrifice of citizens.”
He said the recollections of the Dundee orphans’ time at House of Gray seemed to be very positive, and the landmark was later used as a berry store for the harvest from the Carse.
“There is already a memorial to the four men in the McManus but there is little information available about many of the men,” he said.
The story of Peter Cant was pieced together this summer by Dundee University students. Born in Panbride outside Carnoustie, he ended up in Carolina House after his mother was committed to what was then known as the Royal Montrose Lunatic Asylum and his was father killed in a horse and cart accident.
He left the orphanage after seven years in 1927 and worked as a shoemaker and shop assistant before he joined The Black Watch following the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939.
In 1942 he married Lena Simpson. He was sent to serve in North Africa as part of the 5th Battalion in June that year.
He died in the Battle of the Mareth Line in Tunisia the following year.
Information on the three other soldiers is more scant.
A death notice for Albert Knowles appeared in The Courier in 1944. He had died in action in France at the age of 28.
Victor Young died in September 1944 and is buried in Kasterlee War Cemetery in Belgium.
James Grant died in January that year and is buried in Chungkai War Cemetery in Thailand.
Councillors will decide on the new street names when the city development committee meets on Monday.