I was sad to hear on the news today and read in the Guardian that the Imperial War Graves Commission* failed to ensure that African or Indian servicemen of the Empire in the Great War were accorded the same treatment in death as those from the UK and the Dominions.

I can’t say however that I was very surprised – a clue is in the name: Imperial War Graves Commission.

It’s no excuse for the behaviour of those in charge but the times were different and the attitudes of the powers that were were very unenlightened compared to those that I hope would apply now.

Again, there’s no excuse but it may have been a non-Western Front ruling. There are certainly individual graves of Maori soldiers at Birr Cross Roads Cemetery near Ypres. But New Zealand was of course a Dominion not a colony. (I also remember seeing somewhere a headstone for a Chinese member of the Labour Battalion but not which cemetery his grave was in.)

There are of course collective memorials to Nepalese and Indian soldiers at the Menin Gate as well as names of individual Burmese and Indian soldiers on the building itself.

However, it was and is deplorable that non-white servicemen were at any time not accorded the respect that was – and still is – their due.

*The name was later changed to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Errol is a small town in the Carse of Gowrie, and lies about halfway between Dundee and Perth.

One of our sons lives there and while walking round one day last July (in that short time frame when such a thing was within Covid rules) I came across two Commonwealth War Graves in Errol cemetery.

Private W Soutar, The Black Watch, 17/1/1921:-

Corporal C Anderson, 2nd Life Guards, 12/31919, aged 41:-

Another grave bore this commemoration; Alfred Bramhill Doe, killed in action near Arras, 23/4/1917 aged 25:-

Inverkeithing’s War Memorial is in the form of a pillared Celtic type cross above a square plinth. The memorial stands in a memorial garden to the side of the main road entering Inverkeithing from the north.

From entrance to Memorial garden:-

Great War dedication. On bronze panel: “To the glory of God and in memory of the men of Inverkeithing who fell in the Great War 1914-1919.” On base: “Their name liveth for evermore.”

Great War names, Wilfred D Aikman – Fred Wykes:-

Second World War Dedication. “To the glory of God and in loving memory of the men and women of Inverkeithing and district who fell in the World War 1939 – 1945.” Names: Joseph Allan – Alfred Wallace:-

More names. James Anderson – Charles Wylie. It’s not clear to which war they refer:-

Coaltown of Balgonie is a small village near to where I live. Desopite its proximity I had not photographed its War Memorial till last year.

The Memorial takes the form of a stone cross, with unusual floral ends on its arms and apex, atop a stone pillar. It’s set off Main Street (the B 9130) beside Victoria Hall.

Dedication, “To the glory of God and in memory of those who went forth from Balgonie Colliery and Estate and gave their lives for their country 1914-1919.”

The names are set on the other four sides of the base. All are for the Great War.

John Adamson – William Christie:-

R H Delehunt – W Hargraves:-

John Haxton – George Wishart:-

I posted about Luss a couple of days ago.

Its War Memorial lies in a small enclosure beside Pier Road. It is a simple stone cross with embossed sword atop a hexagonal pedestal.
The dedication reads, “In grateful memory of the men of this parish who gave their lives in the Great War 1914-19,” with added below, “and in the war 1939-1945.” Second World War names lie after the ‘and’ of the World War 2 dedication, Great War names are on the two hexagonal sides flanking it.

From west. Great War names on facing side of hexagon:-

From east. Great War names on facing side of hexagon:-

In March last year we were over in Dumbarton again – no doubt for a football match.

However we also took the chance to have a look at the old Municipal Buildings which date from long before local government reorganisation in the 1960s – at a time when the town had a Town Council.

Arch and Municipal Buildings, Dumbarton:-

The plaque attached to the arch describes it as one of the tower arches of St Mary’s Collegiate Church, founded 1450. The arch was moved in 1850 to make way for the railway station and again in 1907 to its present location:-

Boer War Memorial, Dumbarton, Municipal Buildings behind. The memorial is inscribed, “Erected by the citizens of Dumbarton in memory of those who left the burgh to fight for their country in South Africa and who laid down their lives during the progress of the war 1899-1902.”:-

The names of some World War 2 fields of miltary operations are inscribed on the base of the pillars supprtoing the lintels of Stonehaven War Memorial.

“North Atlantic, Narvik”

“Dunkirk, Battle of Britain”

“El Alamein, Cassino”

“Normandy Beaches, Burma”

The World War 2 dead are commemorated in a series of four granite panels sitting by the Memorial’s pillars. The first is also inscribed with the dedication, “To the memory of those from the District of Stonehaven whose names are inscribed on these panels who lost their lives in the World War 1939 -1945,” as well as the names.

J Fraser Anderson – John Christie:-

William J Christie – James Mc I Findlay:-

Robert T Foster – George Masson:-

William Masson – Alexander R Williamson:-

The names of the Great War dead at Stonehaven War Memorial are inscribed on stone panels at the memorial’s centre.

James Adams – Frank Dallas:-

David Duncan – John Lennox:-

John Main – James Simpson:-

James Sinclair – Alex W Youngson:-

Stonehaven War Memorial interior:-

Wreaths and panel with Great War names, some World War 2 names on smaller panels behind:-

The interior of the lintel above the entrance is inscribed, “Erected by the people of Stonehaven and District. A tribute to their dead, 1914 – 1919”:-

The other interior lintels of the temple-like memorial are inscribed with the quote, from Donald Hankey‘s A Student in Arms, “One by one death challenged them, one by one they smiled in his grim visage and refused to be dismayed”:-

Stonehaven War Memorial sits prominently on Black Hill to the south of the town and is also visible from Dunnottar Castle. The winding path from the castle takes you towards Stonehaven and partly up Black Hill from where you can access the Memorial grounds.

View of Memorial from path leading from Dunnittar Castle:-

Stonehaven from Stonehaven War Memorial:-

Memorial from west as seen from the road back to Dunnottar Castle:-

An information board says the memorial was deliberately designed to look like a ruin to symbolise the lives cut short by the Great War:-

Stonehaven War Memorial from north:-

The external lintels are inscribed with the names of Great War battles, here Jutland, Mons, Ypres:-

From south, Zeebrugge, Gallipoli, Jutland:-

From southwest, Marne, Zeebrugge:-

From west, Vimy, Somme, Marne:-

From northwest, Mons, Ypres:-