In August this year, a new name was added to the War Memorial to remember a soldier who died during the First World War. Private 3379 James Ritchie Blues, 4th Battalion Black Watch, aged 26 years, was killed at Flanders on 22nd May 1915.
There was already a Ritchie Blues listed on the memorial, which is presumably how James' omission had been overlooked for so long. After some investigations to ensure that they were indeed two different men, the Community Council arranged for James to be added 98 years after he was killed in action.
The memorial was washed and Private Blues' name was added in raised letters
which were then coloured black.
The omission was discovered when local man, Chris Greene, did some research into the lives of the people whose names appear on the memorial. Interestingly, he can find nothing about one of the men - Edwin S Noble. If anyone reading this knows anything about him, please do get in touch.
This story featured in the Mearns Leader in May this year. You can read the story here.
They should all be remembered.Thank you for your sacrifice Mr Blues.
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