War heroes honoured on memorial... a century after they died
THEY left Scotland in search of a better life across the Atlantic, but when duty called neither brother hesitated to leave Canada and take up arms.
The Dunbar-born siblings Richard and William Welsh bravely marched to battle in the muddy First World War trenches of France and Belgium.
Both perished miles from Scotland and even further from the new lives they were carving out in Canada
– one succumbing just hours before the Armistice.
More than a century later, their names have now been added to the war memorial in the East Lothian town where they grew up, alongside those of childhood friends and acquaintances they once left behind.
The move follows meticulous research spanning two continents sparked by concerns they were among a number of Dunbar men killed during two world wars whose names were entitled to be remembered at the town’s memorial.
The missing heroes’ names and that of another Dunbar-born soldier whose details were also recently uncovered, were added to the memorial at a poignant service almost 100 years to the day since it was first unveiled and dedicated.
The three are among 20 war dead from the Dunbar area who have been identified since 2018 as having links to the town, but whom researchers discovered did not appear on any war memorial.
The move to add their names to the white granite Celtic cross memorial, which is located on a clifftop overlooking the Forth, means the trio’s sacrifice will finally be recognised in the town where they were born and raised.
Brothers Richard and William were born almost four years apart in the 1880s and as young men worked in labouring jobs in the area.
However, by 1904 and aged 24, William had made the bold move to emigrate to Canada. He was followed three years later by his younger brother.
The war in Europe had raged for just five months when Richard enlisted at Vancouver in British Columbia.
He was serving with the Canadian 6th Infantry Brigade on the Western Front in February 1919, when he fell ill. He died, aged 33, in a military hospital in Wimereux, France, with his cause of death given as “Influenza and Pneumonia attributable to active service”.
He is buried at Terlincthun British Cemetery, Wimereux, Pas de Calais.
His brother William was settled with a wife and two children in the Saskatchewan Province of Canada when war broke out.
He enlisted in 1916 and was serving with the 3rd Battalion Canadian Machine Gun Corps during the Battle of Mons on last day of war, when he was killed in action aged 37.
Researchers from the town used census information, parish and military records from Scotland and Canada to unravel the brothers’ family backgrounds and build up a picture of both of their lives and deaths.
The third name added to the list, Samuel Henderson, was a Private serving with the 2/10th Cyclist Battalion of the Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment) (3), which spent most of the war involved in coastal defence duties around Berwick and Berwickshire.
He died, aged 23, in August 1917 at Templehall Camp, Coldingham from a self-inflicted rifle shot injury.
Herbert Coutts, chairman of Dunbar War Memorial said efforts are continuing to trace local servicemen and women whose names are entitled to be added to the memorial.
“Twenty names, 14 from the First World War and six from the Second War have been added to the memorial since 2018.
“Investigations to identify
‘missing heroes’ continue.”