Dundee historian Dr William Kenefick and Rhona Rodger, social history curator at the McManus have been telling The Courier about the Great War Dundee Commemorative project.
“We had been teaching the Great War as part of our module looking at the Scottish soldier, at the notion of Scotland as a martial nation, and a few years ago we started to get requests from people who were keen to start working on projects to commemorate the centenary. We suddenly thought: ‘Just a minute, we could do something ourselves’! And while the Great War itself was far too big, we knew it would be great to do something on Dundee because, as a big city, it gave such a lot in so many ways to the war effort,” explains Dr Kenefick, a lecturer in history at Dundee University.
“So we spoke to various people at the university and other organisations and it’s amazing how the partnership has grown we have so many people on board now including Abertay Historical Society, the Black Watch Museum, the McManus, Dundee City Council, the Central Library and the Unicorn to name but a few.”
Dr Kenefick presents some astonishing statistics: for the UK as a whole (not counting the colonial troops) there were more than 740,000 casualties although, he says, some have argued that the figure is even higher. Of these 100,000 would have been Scots.
“The Scots gave in disproportionate amounts relative to the general population, and the figure could be as high as 150,000. Dundee had more than 4,200 war dead, a devastating casualty rate of more than 15%, double the rate of Glasgow and one of the highest of any city in the UK.
“The Battle of Loos, a British offensive that started on September 25 1915, was a big one for Dundee. It decimated ‘Dundee’s Ain’, the 4th Battalion of the Black Watch which was overwhelmingly Dundee men.
“There wasn’t a tenement, house or cottage in Dundee that wouldn’t have been touched by this so you can imagine the effect it would have had on the city and its surrounding area.
“To this day the beacon on Dundee’s Law is lit every year on September 25 to remember these men.”
Rhona Rodger, social history curator of the McManus, said: “Records show Dundee gave an astonishing percentage of its young men to the forces during the war.
“There were 20,990 Dundee men on active service when the Armistice came in 1918. The total was conservatively estimated at 30,490 at the end of the war or 63% of eligible men.
“But these statistics tell only part of the story. We also want to rediscover the forgotten stories of life on the home front how people and industries were affected by the war, and how those effects shaped the future of the city for generations to come.
“The Great War Dundee Group aim to coordinate a city-wide approach to the centenary commemoration, bringing the community together with the city’s museums, archives, libraries, universities and societies through a programme of activities that encourage the broadest possible public participation.”
If you have any memories or memorabilia you want to share please get in touch by emailing firstworldwar@thecourier.co.uk.