Weapons Week brings in cash but troops get a poor send-off

A collection in Bridge of Allan in aid ofWarWeaponsWeek raised £28,751, equivalent in purchasing power to £1.3 million today.War WeaponsWeek collections had been held all over the country but theoneinBridgeofAllan hadbeen delayed. AcrossStirlingshire,the total amount collected was £279,613, almost £13 million today.

Mrs HC Bruce and Mrs Bruce, Cambuskenneth, received word their son, Robert, a private in the Royal Scots, had been missing since April 12, 1918. He had been in France for two years. Before enlisting three years earlier, he was a gardener at Garvald House, near Edinburgh. He served an apprenticeship at Coneyhill and Westerton, Bridge of Allan.

Pte DickWilson, Gordon Highlanders, whose mother lived at Hayford House, Cambusbarron, had also been declared missing from April 12, 1918. The private took his leaving certificate at Stirling High in June last year and lefttojointheArmy. Hewentto France on Easter Day and went missing 11 days later. His father was a former science master at the school.

Pte JJ Boylan, A&SH, was awarded the Military Medal for bravery in the field. He lived in Barnton Street and was formerly employed with theYost Typewriter Company. He was working as a representative of Messrs Lever Brothers Ltd when two years earlier he joined the Army. He had been in France for a year.

The Observer of 100 years ago was unhappy with the send-off afforded to troops when they left Stirlingtogotowar. Intheearly days of the conflict, crowds had turned out to cheer the soldiers and offer them gifts as they marched through Stirling to the station for trainsthatwouldtakethem south. Now, though, the lines of recruits were not even headed by a single piper, said the paper adding: “Surely the authorities responsible could order things a little better than that.”