Tribute to boy heroes of Clydebank Blitz strengthens case for lasting memorial
● Forgotten story of messengers who saved lives retold in BBC docudrama
They were just boys but their bravery was without bounds as they navigated the Blitztorn streets to deliver potentially life-saving messages to the emergency services as the bombs rained down on their town.
Now, calls have been made for the “message boys” of Clydebank, who served with the Glasgow Auxiliary Fire Service, to receive a permanent memorial in recognition of their service.
Between 80 and 90 boys are known to have served during the Clydebank Blitz of March 1941, with five killed during their volunteer duties. Most were aged between 14 and 15, but some may have been younger.
John Macleod, author of River of Fire, The Clydebank Blitz, said it was time to remember the boys who dispatched messages about burning houses and trapped townspeople by using bicycles, and sometimes motorcycles, as communication systems failed.
Calls for the memorial come as a new BBC Alba docudrama, Kids of Courage, explores the critical role of the messengers during the German onslaught.
Mr Macleod said: “There should be some sort of monument to the messenger boys before they have all gone.
“They were out there during the bombing and their role was vital. I think it is a matter of great regret that they have been completely forgotten.”
More that 200 German bombers attacked Clydebank over two nights to destroy naval, shipbuilding and munitions targets in and around the town. Fires at Singer’s timber yards, Yoker Distillery and Old Kilpatrick’s oil depot resulted in the greatest damage to industry.
But it was ordinary people and their homes that bore the brunt of the devastation. Of 12,000 houses, 4,000 were completely destroyed. The official death toll records 528 casualties but it has been argued this number is vastly underestimated.
Mr Macleod suggested Knightswood would be a suitable location for any memorial.
It was there that Neil Leitch, who was just 15 during the Blitz, died carrying a message from Bankhead Primary School, the base for the Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS) station, to Partick Fire Station.
He was blown off his bicycle as he ventured out but, despite suffering bruising and shock, he pressed on to pass his message to First Aid before setting out to return to AFC headquarters.
On his return journey, an oil bomb landed close to the teenager, leaving him with severe burns. He died soon afterwards.
Following his death, the boy was gazetted by King George VI for his bravery and devotion to duty.
The author described the messengers as “gutsy scholars, young enough to abound in energy and too young, perhaps, to be paralysed by imagination and terror”.
Most were recruited from the Boys Brigade with the volunteers likely to have been from middle-class homes, given the boys came equipped with their own bikes, Mr Macleod added.
A wreath was laid in 2015 at Dalbeath Cemetery for the five messenger boys killed during the Clydebank bombing.
Margaret Cameron, channel editor of BBC Alba, agreed a memorial for the Message Boys was appropriate.
She said: “Clearly, the message boys were very young kids who were running very high risks. Telling their story seemed to be a way of highlighting the courage of the younger generation during the war, which is something you don’t often hear about. n Kids of Courage, or Gaisgich Oga an Darna Cogaidh, is now available on BBC iplayer.
“Telling their story seemed to be a way of highlighting the courage of the younger generation during the war, which is something you don’t often hear about”
MARGARET CAMERON