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World War I Heritage TrailWalk in the steps of your ancestors

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Every parish in Angus has at least onememorial to the servicemen and womenwho fell during the Great War.

Memorials were created by communities,schools and churches, amongst others.Some are on public view whilst othersare behind closed doors.

It took a few years for grieving and war weary communities todecide upon an appropriate memorial, raise funds and gathernames for inclusion. Some towns ran design competitions fortheir memorials; others found it difficult to agree on the site forsuch an important venture. A number debated whether amemorial was appropriate and suggested a centre for ex-servicemen might be a better choice.

Memorials were funded by public subscriptions, usuallyorganised by a committee of administrative and social leaders oflocal society. They steered the project to completion, fromcollecting the names to appear on a memorial to the unveilingceremony.

In addition to the main war memorials, many communities suchas schools and churches raised their own memorials and detailsof these can be found at www.visitangus.com/heritage-trails

The VCs of Angus

Three men from Angus were awarded the highest military decoration, the Victoria Cross. Charles Jarvisand George Samson were associated with Carnoustie and Charles Melvin lived for most of his life inKirriemuir. All 3 VCs will be commemorated by special paving stones. The first was installed near theentrance to Carnoustie Championship Golf Course on 23 August 2014 in memory of Charles Jarvis.Samson and Melvin will be commemorated on the anniversaries of their VC awards.

CHARLES JARVISCharles Jarvis was awarded one of the war’s first Victoria Cross medals forhis gallantry at the Battle of Jemappes on 23 August 1914. Under heavyfire and in full view of the enemy, he worked for 90 minutes to demolish abridge. Jarvis was born in Fraserburgh in 1881, but lived much of his earlylife in Carnoustie, where his father was a coastguard and later janitor atCarnoustie Public School. Jarvis trained as a plumber before joining thearmy, reaching the rank of Lance Corporal in the 57th Field Company RoyalEngineers at the outbreak of the First World War. Jarvis died in Dundee in1948. Jarvis Place in Carnoustie was named in his honour in 1966.

GEORGE SAMSONGeorge Samson won his Victoria Cross for his actions on 25 April 1915 at VBeach, Seddul Bahr, Gallipoli, where he was the first man ashore. Samsonwas awarded the VC for his actions in rescuing and tending wounded men.He worked for 30 hours under fire to secure a safe landing for troops fromHMS River Clyde and suffered multiple wounds, leading to his discharge fromthe navy for a 12 month period. He was invested with the Victoria Crossmedal at Buckingham Palace on 5 October 1915, the first seaman in 50 yearsto be so honoured. After the war Samson continued to work in the merchantnavy. He died in 1923 after contracting pneumonia. In 1966 Samson Place inCarnoustie was named in his honour. Samson had lived in Carnoustie duringhis youth, where his father worked as a shoemaker. He attended the sameschool and same church, Carnoustie’s Episcopal Church, as Charles Jarvis.

Jarvis and Samson returned to Carnoustie on 29 October 1915 to a hero’sreception in the YMCA Hall. Both VCs were members of the Holy RoodEpiscopal Church and both had attended the same school in the town.

CHARLES MELVINCharles Melvin was awarded his Victoria Cross for actions on 21 April 1917at Istabulat, Mesopotamia “for most conspicuous bravery, coolness andresource in action” when charging an enemy trench. He was born in Boddin,Craig parish, the son of a ploughman, and had joined the army in 1907.After the war he settled in Kirriemuir and worked in a jute factory, marryinglocal power loom weaver Susan Irvine in 1919. He lived at various addressesin the town including 94 Roods and Glengate. Melvin died on 17 July 1941.A commemorative stone is located in Cumberland Close, Kirriemuir.

George Samson (left), Rev. J. B. Jobberns(centre), Charles Jarvis (right)

Arbroath

Arbroath Evening Continuation Classesoffered soldiers classes in field cookery,ambulance work and conversationalFrench.

German schooner Behrend entered theharbour on the day war was declared andwas put under arrest. The vessel wasguarded by a troop of local Boy Scouts.

Red Cross volunteers provided Sundaymorning refreshments to troops travellingby train. Local ladies would often includetheir names and addresses in cigarettepackets and strike up correspondencewith the receiving soldier.

The Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders andthe Welsh Cycle Battalion were amongstthe military units stationed in the town.

Seaforth House and its stables,Inverbrothock School and Abbey Schoolwere used as military billets with thepupils attending Keptie, Parkhouse andLadyloan Schools on a half day system.

The Webster Memorial Theatre wasnamed in honour of Joseph Frain Webster,son of manufacturer Sir Francis Webster.Joseph Webster died in France in October1914 in action while preventing a trenchfrom being captured by the Germans.

Did you know?

Situated on the High Commonoverlooking the sea, Arbroath’s warmemorial sits 30ft high on top of a stonebase. Arbroath’s Western Cemeterycontains the largest number of war gravesin Angus, relating to both World Wars, allof whom are commemorated on the warmemorial. It was designed by GWashington Browne RSA of Edinburghand unveiled by local man James McKay,Lord Inchcape on 3 June 1922.

Spotlight soldier Private Scott Oram joined up at 15 yearsold in November 1914. He was taken as aPrisoner of War at Mons and spent theremainder of the war enduring thehardship of captivity in Germany andoccupied Russia. Sadly, on the eve of hisrelease, he contracted influenza and diedin Germany on 23 December 1918.

Brechin’s memorial takes the form of a40ft obelisk designed by Wright & Wrigleyof Wakefield and is constructed of stonefrom the local Ardovie quarry. Originallythe memorial was to take the form of theold market cross and be located on theHigh Street, but the site was considered to

be too small and too busy. Instead, thememorial was located in the Public Parkand was unveiled by the Countess ofDalhousie on 23 December 1923.

Brechin Town Council commissioned aBook of Remembrance of their war dead,currently on view in Brechin Library. Thebook was created by Charles L Davidsonand his wife Nina and is a beautiful workof craftsmanship, full of detail andsymbolism, listing the names of the deadfrom Brechin parish.

Spotlight soldier The first Brechin man killed at the Frontwas Corporal William Dunn, the 22 yearold son of local photographer John MDunn, on 23 January 1915. A letter fromDunn’s commander reached the familybefore the official intimation of his deathdescribing how he was shot while diggingtrenches by a German sniper. Dunn wasburied in Estaires Communal Cemetery.

Brechin

Did you know? In December 1914 the Earl of Dalhousiewas saved from a battlefield death atYpres by his valet GH Tait, who hadaccompanied him to the Front. When theEarl failed to return to camp, Tait searchedfor him on the battlefield at great personalrisk. He found him injured and dying andcarried him back to camp.

Tank Julian, and its Tank Bank, visitedBrechin in February 1918 raising £39,000,enough to purchase 7 tanks for the wareffort.

16,834 eggs were collected in Brechinduring the first National Egg CollectionWeek in 1915.

Nettie Lamb and Ethel Duke, aunt andniece, served as nurses with ScottishWomen’s Hospital units in Serbia andwere both taken as POWs. They werereleased in December 1915.

The first military burial in the cemetery atBrechin was that of Private Tom Irvine, DCompany 5th Black Watch, who died ofinjuries sustained at Ypres in June 1915.

Miss Margaret NcNabb of Keithock was afund raiser extraordinaire for the RedCross, egg collection for woundedsoldiers, comforts for soldiers and almostevery other local fund raising campaign.

Carnoustie

Carnoustie’s impressive memorial wasunveiled on 31 October 1925 by the Earl ofStrathmore. The memorial was designed byJames Prain Bruce, an architect and formerresident of Carnoustie, who designed manyof its Edwardian villas. The sculpture of thesoldier was created by Thomas Beattie ofEdinburgh. The model was local manCharles Crawford who had served with theSeaforth Highlanders during World WarOne. The memorial is set within a beautifulRest Garden which was completed in 1926.

Spotlight soldier Private Joseph Duncan, 2nd GordonHighlanders and son of a retired salmonfisher, died after serving at the Front foronly 3 weeks. He was shot by a sniperwhile volunteering for dangerous work. Hisplatoon officer wrote to his parents thatDuncan was one of his best men and afuture NCO. Duncan was well known in thetown as a pastry baker, before emigratingto Canada, where he lived for 3 years. Hesigned up early in the war and died on 17June 1915.

Did you know? D (Forfar) Company Highland CyclistBattalion were billeted in the YMCA Halluntil 1919.

The Red Cross VAD Convalescent Hospitalwas located in the Union Club, ParkAvenue, under the care of MissSutherland, with another hospitalopening in Carlogie House in 1918 underthe care of Miss Kidney.

News of the death of Lance-SergeantAlfred Gooch at Sabutilline reached thetown on 4 November 1914, the firstdeath in action of a Carnoustie resident.

The Keeper of the Privy Purse wrote onbehalf of the King to acknowledge theextraordinary response of Westhavenwhere 24 men were of military age and21 of them had enlisted.

Barry Buddon was a training area forsoldiers and housed large guns as part ofthe Tay defences.

Farrier-Sergeant David Sanderson,brother-in-law of George Samson VC,won the DCM in 1915. Samson’s sister,Mrs Sanderson, engaged in munitionswork in Carnoustie.

Forfar’s war memorial sits on top ofBalmashanner Hill. It is built in the style of acastellated tower using locally quarriedstone and stands 65ft at the highest pointof the turret. The roll of honour is locatedwithin the tower, which is openoccasionally, although the memorial can bevisited at any time. It was designed byThomas R Soutar, architect, and wasconstructed by Alexander Adamson juniorwith David Stewart completing the joinerywork. It was unveiled by the Earl ofStrathmore, with Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyonin attendance, on 11 September 1921.

Spotlight soldier Rev Gilbert Elliot, minister of the WestUnited Free Church, enlisted not as anarmy chaplain but as a serving soldier inthe Machine Gun Corps (Infantry) 12thBattalion. He served for 2 years as a LanceCorporal before being declared missing inMarch 1918. Elliot’s death was notconfirmed until March 1919. He iscommemorated on the Poizieres Memorial.

Forfar

Did you know? Forfar was a preliminary military trainingcentre with 2,000 soldiers from the BlackWatch, the Gordon’s, the Argyll &Sutherland Highlanders, Highland LightInfantry and the Royal Field Artillery in thetown at any one time.

The South School, East School, Reid Hall,Masonic Hall and the South Street factorywere used as military billets.

A Montrose Flying Corps biplane fell 300ftand crashed in a field near Nether Drumgleyfarm on 14 October 1915, killing its 2occupants Captain Frederic Arkwright and LtHardy.

Mons the Cat, rescued from a farmhousenear Hill 60 in Belgium, was purchased byWilliam Lammond, cattle dealer in SouthStreet, Forfar. Mons was resold for charitynumerous times, but always bought back byMr Lammond, raising £3,000 for war funds.

957 patients were treated in the Red CrossAuxiliary Hospital at Briars Cottage.

The Forfar Bridie was banned as part ofmeasures to conserve dwindling floursupplies in 1917. An appeal was made tothe Ministry of Food and the ban on thebridie was rescinded in August 1917 oncondition that less meat was used.

The Kirriemuir war memorial is located atthe top of the Hill, offering fine views overthe Angus countryside. The memorialfeatures the statue of a 9½ft Highlandersoldier on guard, standing on top of a26½ft base, with the names of the fallensoldiers organised by theatre of war. Thetown held a competition for the design ofits memorial and Henry Hutcheon Ltd ofAberdeen was chosen. The memorial wasunveiled on 12 August 1923 by Mabel,Dowager Countess of Airlie.

Spotlight soldier Two of Sir J M Barrie’s nephews diedduring the war and are commemoratedon a memorial plaque to the men of theformer South United Free Church (now StAndrews Church), Kirriemuir. LieutenantWilliam Cowan Ogilvy Barrie died in actionon 14 October 1916, only months afterhis elder brother Corporal Charles DavidOgilvy Barrie died on 1 July 1916.

Kirriemuir

Did you know? The Red Cross Hospital was located inBrechin Road, Kirriemuir, in 1916-1918and had treated 240 patients by itssecond anniversary.

Mary Robertson took over the postalroute of John Boyd when he enlisted inthe Mechanical Service Corps in June1915. She was the first woman to takeover a man’s job in Kirriemuir.

Major David Wilkie of Platten had justarrived in Canada on business when themobilisation order came through. Heimmediately returned home, serving inFrance until his death in April 1917. Hewas a partner in J & D Wilkie,manufacturers.

Lance Corporal John Beaton, 5thBattalion Black Watch, regularly sentpoems home from the Front. These wereprinted locally and sold to raise money topurchase tobacco and cigarettes for hisregiment.

A vegetable depot operated at 5 HighStreet, Kirriemuir, to collect vegetables forFleet personnel

Charles Melvin VC unveiled the warmemorial on St Andrews Church, GlamisRoad, Southmuir, on 31 December 1930.The inscription reads, ‘In grateful memoryof the men of this church who gave theirlives in the Great War Lest we Forget.’

Monifieth’s memorial was unveiled on 25June 1922 by the Earl of Strathmore. Itwas designed by Charles G. Soutar,architect in Dundee. The bronze statuewas created by Herman Cawthra ofLondon. The art deco style memorial sitswithin an attractive garden on a sitedonated by Mrs Dalrymple Mitchell.

Spotlight soldier Private Sam Brown of the Black Watch fellin action on 23 April 1917, one of 3 sonsof James Brown, Tay Street, Monifieth,serving at the Front. Brown was 20 yearsold and had been a ploughman atEthiebeaton before joining up at the endof 1914. He is buried at Brown’s CopseCemetery, Rouex near Arras, France.

Monifieth

Did you know? The Red Cross VAD Hospital operatedfrom Gerard Hall and was run by MrsAnnie McLaren, a former nurse and wifeof the minister.

Monifieth’s burgh surveyor Mr Mackenziejoined up and served in the RoyalEngineers.

85 year old Mrs Gibb of Nicoll’s Landknitted 6 pairs of socks for servicemen in2 months during 1916 despite her failingeyesight

Gunner Alex Maiden of the Royal FieldArtillery, son of Monifieth’s servingProvost, was gassed and wounded.

In 1917 James F Low & Co Ltd added theLouvain Shell Factory to their iron works.The shell factory was a long oblongbuilding made of concrete. It is nowunder modern housing.

As food shortages started to bite, therules about keeping pigs and chickens inback gardens were relaxed.

The Montrose war memorial, dominatedby its central figure of Peace, occupies aprominent site on the Mid Links. Thememorial was designed by Messrs Gamley& Kinross. It was unveiled by Major Hoyer

Millar on 1 June 1924. Montrose was alsothe site of Britain’s first operationalmilitary airfield set up in 1913 by the RoyalFlying Corps. The Montrose Air StationHeritage Centre now tells the story of theairmen of two World Wars.

Spotlight soldier Before joining up in 1915, David Oliphant,aged 25, worked as a constable inMontrose Police Force, and was engagedto be married. Oliphant served in theRoyal Army Medical Corps (R.A.M.C.), 2ndHighland Divisional Field Ambulance unit.He had been serving for nearly a yearwhen an enemy shell killed him and threeother Scotsmen on 24 July 1917 whilethey were constructing a medical postnear Ypres. His name can be found on theMontrose War Memorial, Farnell WarMemorial (his father was a chauffeur atKinnaird Castle) and the Menin Gate inYpres, Belgium.

Montrose

The area between the former Bents Hoteland the shore was used to teach soldiershow to dig trenches and practice obstaclecourses.

The area behind Montrose Museum wasused as a field bakery by the Royal FieldArtillery.

The 30 bed Red Cross VAD Hospitaloperated from the Congregational ChurchHall on Baltic Street under superintendentMrs Martin.

Montrose Academy created its own warmemorial dedicated to former pupils andteachers.

Union Mill was used as a barracks byboth airmen and soldiers. PanmureBarracks, formerly the Asylum and nowthe site of the Glaxo factory, also billetedsoldiers.

William Lamb, a Queen’s Own CameronHighlander, became a well known artistand sculptor despite a severe shrapnelinjury to his right hand in 1917. After thewar he learned to use his left hand andwas commissioned to create the warmemorials at Farnell and Hillside and theWorld War 2 additions to the MontroseWar Memorial.

Did you know?

The following websites can provide information about the men and women who diedduring the war.

ScotlandsPeople www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk

Soldiers’and Airmens’ wills www.nas.gov.uk

Ancestry military records www.ancestry.com

Find My Past military recordswww.findmypast.co.uk

Commonwealth War Graves Commission www.cwgc.org

Scottish War Graves Projectwww.scottishwargraves.phpbbweb.com

Imperial War Museumwww.iwm.org.uk

Black Watch Museumwww.theblackwatch.co.uk

Scottish National War Memorial Roll of Honourwww.snwm.org

Scotland’s War, Angus sectionwww.scotlandswar.ed.ac.uk/Angus

Family history sources

KirriemuirKirriemuir

BrechinBrechin

MonifiethMonifiethDundeeDundee

ArbroathArbroath

CarnoustieCarnoustie

MontroseMontrose

ForfarForfar

FifeFife

AberdeenshireAberdeenshire

Perth &Perth &KinrossKinross

Kirriemuir

Brechin

MonifiethDundee

Arbroath

Carnoustie

Montrose

Forfar

Fife

Aberdeenshire

Perth &Kinross

AAnngguuss Angus

Inverness

Aberdeen

DundeePerth

GlasgowEdinburgh

Text: Fiona Scharlau, Angus Archives 2014

Angus Archives War Stories Collection is available in the search room containing details ofsoldiers, nurses, soldiers’ letters and poems amongst other things. The Archives are

always looking to add more stories about local heroes to this collection.

T: 01307 468644 | E: angusarchives@angusalive.scot for more information or visit www.angusalive.scot/museums