The hundreds of young Dundee men who packed on to trains at the city’s station in 1915 could scarcely have comprehended the horror that awaited them.
Enlisted into The Black Watch, they formed battalions which came to be known as “Dundee’s Own” and the “Dundee Pal’s Battalion”.
Their bravery at the Battle of Loos is recognised each year, with the beacon on top of Dundee Law’s war memorial lit to remember the fallen.
Now, retired Black Watch Sergeant Major Charlie Reid believes the city’s plan to name new waterfront project roads to hark back to the city’s past presents the perfect opportunity to honour them once again.
The timing would be poignant as this September marks the 100th anniversary of the battle, in which 50,000 British troops died.
Mr Reid, president of Dundee and District Wrens Association, has called for the regiment’s links to the city to be commemorated with a permanent street name memorial.
During its long and illustrious history, the city has been one of its key recruiting grounds, together with the wider Tayside region and Fife.
“With the anniversary of the battle approaching I’d thought of asking the city to consider renaming a street or crescent after The Black Watch,” Mr Reid said.
“Then in The Courier I saw that the council was looking for suggestions for names for parts of the new waterfront, including the area in front of the new station.
“From that same station, 100 years ago, hundreds of young laddies left the town by train to fight at the Battle of Loos and didn’t return.
“Youngsters nowadays don’t know what The Black Watch is any more and they don’t know the story of Dundee’s Own.
“I know that in September veterans will come together to commemorate the battle but naming a part of the new waterfront after the regiment would ensure that the sacrifice of these Dundee laddies lives long in the memory.”
Mr Reid hopes to gather support for the idea, with Dundee East MP Stewart Hosie among those he has already approached.
Mr Hosie said the idea of commemorating The Black Watch was worthy of consideration.
“In the centenary year of the Battle of Loos, I would support naming a new street in the central waterfront area to honour the city’s historical links with The Black Watch,” he said.
“The city suffered disproportionately large losses from the 4th Battalion of the Black Watch ‘Dundee’s Ain’ in the trenches in 1915.
“I think it would be highly appropriate that the tragic loss of a generation of young men in the First World War could be sensitively commemorated in this way.”
Dundee City Council will stage a public competition to name key elements of its waterfront project.