A group of Dundee musicians have honoured a battalion of their musical predecessors who braved the Battle of the Somme.
Dundee Society of Bellringers played a heartfelt “quarter peel” in commemoration of 11 historical members of the club who fought and survived the bloody battle.
Members of the club felt compelled to research their heroic predecessors after being alerted to a roll of honour, located in Barrack Street Museum, containing the names and ranks of the 11 men.
After making their discovery, club members Ron Oliver and Christina Howie took it upon themselves to uncover each man’s story.
Christina revealed: “I do a lot of family history research and decided that it would be nice to show that these men aren’t just names.
“I looked up Scotland’s People, the UK newspaper archive and visited the city archives which meant I was able to build up a story about them.
“We now know where 10 of the 11 men were born and who they were married to, that sort of thing.
“It means we can link the ringers of 100 years ago with the ringers of today.”
Christina now intends to document her research within a bound book which she hopes can be put on display in the club’s Steeple Church HQ.
The passionate researcher hopes both her research and her group’s musical performance can act as a fitting tribute to the ringers who fought all those years ago.
She said: “There is definitely a point when you’re playing when you think: “these people held the same ropes and rang the same bells as me”.
“The quarter peel lasts around 50 minutes and will hopefully give us all a chance to think about why we are ringing.
“It is amazing to think that we have all walked the same streets as these people did 100 years ago-it makes it all the more poignant.”
