A POIGNANT dedication will be made at the University of Glasgow tonight when 21 names uncovered during a research project will be added to the Roll of Honour.
At the event in the chapel, candles will be lit and placed at the altar to represent each of the 780 men, including German Franz Schlör and one woman, Elizabeth Ross, who are remembered on the memorial panels which line the walls of the chapel.
The University of Glasgow sacrificed a significant proportion of its membership to the war, with more than 4500 serving and 781 losing their lives.
The new names have now been added to the memorial plaques in the chapel and a centenary stone honouring Glasgow’s first Victoria Cross recipient and university alumnus Captain Harry Ranken has been placed on the floor of the chapel.
Tony Pollard, professor of conflict history and archaeology, said that although a milestone had been reached over the past four years of commemorations of the First World War, it was not time to stop.
“I strongly feel that we need to continue to mark the events of 1914-1918, as there are many valuable lessons to be learned,” he said. “The ways in which we remember will probably change, but that is very different from forgetting – this year will not be the closing of a door.
“What I would stress is the need to remember the events which followed, and the impact of the war on families and veterans.
“I work with a lot of veterans and it is clear that war has profound impacts on survivors and it is my belief that recognising the long legacy of PTSD can only assist in ensuring that those suffering today get the care and understanding they so richly deserve.”
The university is also taking part in Poppyscotland’s 2018 Light Up Red campaign with the bell tower illuminated in red from 8pm tonight.
Earlier today, three guns will fire a total of six blank rounds in 15-second intervals from the university grounds as part of a nationwide commemoration by the Royal Artillery.
They will then fall silent just before 11am to mark the centenary of the end of the First World War, mirroring the events of 100 years before.
The event will involve 207 (City of Glasgow) Battery Royal Artillery and the Officers’ Training Corp Officer Cadets from the Glasgow & Strathclyde Universities’ Officer Training Corps (GSUOTC).
University chaplain the Reverend Stuart MacQuarrie said: “The Memorial Chapel was built to remember the great sacrifice made by the university’s students, staff and alumni during the First World War.
“With Armistice Day falling on Remembrance Sunday 100 years after the guns fell silent, we are honoured to have been chosen as the location in Glasgow for this poignant tribute from the Royal Artillery.”
Among those who will be present for the Remembrance Sunday commemorations will be Barbara Holliday, whose great-uncle from Glasgow, Second Lietuenant Matthew Neilson Taylor, died in the war.
“Although I never knew him, Matthew has become as much a part of my life as the aunts and uncles I have shared my life with, and therefore I feel a need to share this memorial as the last place where Matthew would have felt young and carefree,” she said.
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