TALK: The Lives Behind the Names: Men of 1918

As we approach the centenary of the end of World War 1 this is an opportunity to hear about the lives of those men named on our Memorial Plaque who died in the final year of the war.

So often we know nothing about the lives of those commemorated on War Memorials. In the Kingsborough Sanctuary the World War 1 Memorial takes the form of a magnificent stained glass window and a marble plaque bearing thirty names. The facts behind the names give a picture of life in Victorian and Edwardian Glasgow. The young men were the sons of the wealthy and aspirational nineteenth century middle class which came to reside in the large villas and terraces of the West End. They were prompt to enlist and being, for the most part, officers, lost their lives very quickly in the carnage of war. One hundred years later what are we able to do? Remember and honour them; care for all victims of war everywhere, most especially the young and in any small way that we can seek to create peace.