The names of nineteen men who gave their life for their country will be added to the World War I roll of honour at the University of Glasgow, after digital resources were used to discover the details of the men.
Researchers at the University identified the 19 additional names by using digital resources and confirmed their connection to the University using student records held by the University of Glasgow Archives.
Now, 100 years after the war, their names will be carved in stone alongside those of the men and women already remembered in the University Memorial Chapel, and their families invited to memorial services on Remembrance Sunday, on November 11, 2018.
Roll of honour
One was a successful rugby player who was capped for Scotland, one a respected doctor and family man, another a grocer’s son who cut short his studies to join the war effort, and another was a secondary school teacher.
Another of those being honoured is a rugby player who was capped for Scotland. Captain William Campbell Church played for Glasgow Academicals between 1904 and 1907, was on the winning team for the Scottish Club Championship 1904/5, and played for his country against Wales in 1906. He matriculated in 1905, taking a class in mercantile law and playing for the University rugby team.
A stockbroker who lived in Partick, Glasgow, he enlisted with the 8th Battalion Cameronians (Scottish Rifles). Captain Church was 32 when he was killed by machine gun fire within ten yards of the enemy trench at Gully Ravine, Gallipoli in 1913. He was remembered by his friend, Commander J A Henry of the Royal Navy, as “a good man to play with or against.”
His body was never found but he is remembered on the Scottish National War Memorial, Kelvinside Academy War Memorial, Glasgow Academy War Memorial, Scottish Rugby Union Memorial and the Wellington Church War Memorial.
Tales of bravery
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Corporal James Crawford Robertson (pictured), of Beith, Ayrshire, graduated with an MA (Hons) in Classics in 1913 and went on to train as a teacher at the Glasgow Provincial Training College, now the University of Strathclyde. He was appointed a teacher at Shawlands Academy in Glasgow on 3 September 1914.
He served with the 17th Battalion Highland Light Infantry and was killed in action on 14 July 1916, four days before his 23rd birthday.
The stories behind the names
Katie McDonald, Researcher with the College of Arts, University of Glasgow, said: “We are still piecing together the stories behind the names of the fallen and ask anyone who has any information about them and any pictures of them to get in touch.
“In 1929, when the University originally called for names to be inscribed in the Memorial Chapel, the University widely advertised in newspapers, asking families to come forward with names of the fallen. Some people may not have seen the advertisements, or they could have assumed their son or brother or father’s name was already on record. Also, many families found it terribly hard to talk about their losses and may have found it too painful to come forward.
“Where students studied at more than one institution, some have been remembered in one and not the other. Perhaps an assumption was made by those providing the information that it would be shared, or perhaps it was too hard to relay the news repeatedly.
“Now, thanks to digital resources, online research, and collaborations with both local projects, such as the Scottish War Memorial Project and the
Inverclyde Great War Project, and national initiatives such as the Imperial War Museum’s ‘Lives of the First World War’ project, we have been able to add more names to the Memorial Chapel.”
(images copyright University of Glasgow)
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Nineteen additional names added to Glasgow University World War I roll of honour
Corporal James Crawford Robertson (pictured), of Beith, Ayrshire, graduated with an MA (Hons) in Classics in 1913 and went on to train as a teacher at the Glasgow Provincial Training College, now the University of Strathclyde. He was appointed a teacher at Shawlands Academy in Glasgow on 3 September 1914..jpg)
