Grantown-on-Spey on a chilly spring day. Poetry, that. Although hardly in motion.
Anyway, you’d assume that this stately Corinthian column is the Grantown-on-Spey war memorial,…
…but according to the Imperial War Museum’s War Memorials Register, this is officially the Strathspey & District war memorial, hence the title of this post.
The front of the memorial sports a bronze wreath at the top,…
…and a rather impressive Highlander, also in bronze, at the base,…
…and if you hadn’t noticed, check out the positioning of the bayonet tip.
Classy bit of sculpting that, in my humble.
Today, the memorial remembers the dead of both World Wars from the Strathspey region,…
…as the panel (below) confirms.
There are a total of 253 Great War names, and 63 from World War II, the front panel listing the dead from Grantown-on-Spey itself, the Second World War casualties named beneath the First. Incidentally, you will spot two men of the Mercantile Marine at the end of the Great War names; some time after the war, King George V granted the title ‘Merchant Navy’ to the civilian cargo ships to recognise the wartime contribution of merchant sailors, these two men therefore being civilians at the time of their deaths.
The side panels list the dead from, on this side,…
…Inverallan, Cromdale & Advie. Note the final name on the Cromdale Second World War list, an engineer officer of the now Merchant Navy, and also that there are no Second World War casualties listed from Advie.
On the other side,…
…the dead from Abernethy, Duthil, and Rothiemurchus & Aviemore are named. The Great War names for Duthil include a nurse, Sister May Grant, Territorial Force Nursing Service, who had been mobilised on the day war broke out, spent her whole service in various Glasgow hospitals, and died of pneumonia, you guessed it, following influenza, on 2nd November 1918. The final name on this panel is that of a second nurse who died during the Second World War, the initials above her name standing for Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service.
Unveiled in September 1921,…
…I gather the local newspaper at the time reported that the names listed on the panels – clearly the current ones are replacements, listing, as they do, the Second World War dead – included ‘all officers and men who were born or had resided in the district, who had enlisted while in Strathspey, or who had former family connections with the locality’. So now you know.
And your last comment answered the query I was going to ask … About the AIF, and CEF members listed on the Memorial.
Good job too – I’d have had not much idea otherwise.
Good morning from the parish of Clyne. Or Brora as the main village is called. I think the naming of Strathspey was quite deliberate as was ours- as it covered a lot of small townships in rural areas where having a small memorial was not practical. There is a man from Grantown on Dorian memorial to Missing and he is on our memorial too. Will cross check the names and get back to you. BUT Stornoway huge memorial remembered all Lewis men until centenary funding meant each district got their own. I have photos if these are of interest. But thank you for the post
Interesting as always Morag.
So Private Nicholson is on two memorials. I have wee biography of him and a picture if you would like it and no offence if you do not x
I am always interested in such, as you know, but editorially, on this occasion, I would not want to add a single photo to the post. Mind you, there’ll be beeg trouble should you not continue to lmk about these little treasures you have tucked away……..x
If anyone can tell me anything about P.Gordon who is on the memorial as having served with the AIF, I’d be obliged.
My present interest is Australian soldiers from WWI who originated from UK-not just those who fell, but also those who survived to return to Australia.
Leave that with me. I have a friend from Grantown. She might know x
Grantown museum have researched all the men on memorial. Suggest you email them. Best of luck
The sculpture is very impressive…
We agree.