Plaques stand for heroism of Great War fallen

One role I proudly fulfil is helping with the Great War Dundee project, an umbrella group of organisations which includes archives, libraries, universities, historic groups, private companies and visitor attractions.

The partnership contributed to The Courier’s poignant Passchendaele supplement, and other events marking this landmark battle of 1917.

This week’s item reminded me not only of those sacrifices 100 years ago but also of the brave airmen who are often dismissed in histories of the Western Front in a meagre quote of words.

The illustration shows a memorial plaque awarded posthumously to Second Lieutenant John F. Shaw of the Royal Flying Corps, a Dundee pilot killed in a flying accident on February 19 1918. Shaw was commissioned in January 1918. He was posted as a pilot to 26 Training Squadron, Narborough, Norfolk.

He died the following month when piloting DH4 B2121, which stalled off a right-hand turn at low level on his return to the airfield. The passenger, Second Lieutenant C. A. Law, was also killed. It is thought the crash was caused by engine failure.

Shaw was only 18 and was returned home to be buried in the Western Cemetery in Dundee.

The memorial plaque was lotted with several other items, including a framed and glazed memorial scroll, two identity discs (illustrated), both engraved ‘J. F. Shaw Presb. Royal Flying Corps’, a Royal Flying Corps cloth shoulder title, an RFC graduation certificate, a letter of condolence to the recipient’s father from the Privy Purse Office, Buckingham Palace, dated March 11 1918, with its envelope addressed to Dundee, along with various family photographs and other ephemera.

Memorial plaques were issued to the next-of-kin of service personnel killed as a result of the Great War. The plaque was made of bronze and became known as the Dead Man’s Penny due to the similarity in appearance to the penny coin.

It is wretched to mention prices for items associated with such a family sacrifice, but London medal specialists Dix Noonan Webb took a triple estimate £340 for Lt Shaw’s awards when sold on July 19.