Chairman: Professor Donald Ritchie
FRSE Hon Secretary: Major David Evans
TD Hon Curator: Dennis Reeves Esq.
From: Major (retd) IL Riley TD FSA
(Scot) - Webmaster/Trustee
Dear Friend
of the Liverpool Scottish Museum,
We have been very busy at the new museum premises.
Entrance porches, electrics, picture hanging, display cases and all the usual
enquiries and visitors occupy the scarce time of volunteers. We note the
erection of an English Heritage blue plaque to Captain Noel Chavasse outside the
old Bishop's Palace in the University precinct in Liverpool and tell you about
the forthcoming visit of the Lord Mayor to the Museum for the rededication of the
war memorials. The forthcoming visit to
Ieper/Ypres (June 15th/16th/17th 2002) will be the subject of a further
newsletter (No 4A) later in May. The official opening is scheduled for
September/October 2002; the exact date is to be decided in the near future. The previous newsletter can be seen in the Archive
file.
Although
much remains to be done at the Museum,
the Lord Mayor of Liverpool will be rededicating the bronze war memorials
which were removed from Forbes House and recently re-installed (after very
considerable effort) at Botanic Road. Detail of the memorials (in their
previous location at Forbes House) are here
The Liverpool Scottish Regimental Association AGM takes place at 10.30 am.
Those who are not members of the LSRA but attending for the dedication only should arrive at 11.30 am and
to help with catering arrangements they should notify the Museum Secretary,
Major David Evans TD, on 0151 924 7800 or by e-mail
. Visitors are asked to be in place before the Lord Mayor arrives at
11.50 am. Proceedings start at 1200. A contribution to the cost of light
buffet will be requested from those who are not members of the LSRA. The Museum
is located on the corner of Botanic Road and Edge Lane in the old TA Centre.
Edge Lane (A 5047) is the main dual carriageway leading from the Rocket Flyover
at
the end of the M62 towards the city centre. A
map can be seen by clicking here. Our green door is immediately next to
the Liverpool Scottish Cadet premises.
The service will be conducted by the
Padre of the Regimental Association,
the Rev John Williams, and will feature the replacement of the illuminated
Book of Remembrance (for the First World War) within the memorial. The Chief Executive of Reserve
Forces and Cadet Association for the North West of England (Colonel Gerry
Wells-Cole), the CO of the King's and Cheshire Regiment (Lt Col Simon
Bell), serving soldiers of the Liverpool Scottish element of KCR and
of the Liverpool Scottish ACF will be present.
The War Memorials were taken down (and very professionally packed) from
Forbes House with considerable help from the staff of the National Museums
and Galleries on Merseyside, stored in Manchester with the help of Major
David McNeil, returned from there to Liverpool with the support of Mr. David Cato, and
finally re-erected through the good offices of those who had originally
dismounted them. All of this has been supervised, organised and monitored by
Major David Evans. The intention is that the Museum will be formally opened
in September/October 2002
Work on the fabric of the Museum continues and
the premises are beginning to look like a museum. Work has been done by a
small core of trustees with some professional and volunteer assistance. In the
course of this, Ian Riley has been elected as a founder member of the 'Friends
of B&Q Warehouses'.
In more detail:
Roof: This has been given serious
attention and is now sound. Our chairman, Professor Donald Ritchie and
his wife, Jeanne, cleared the roof area of broken glass left by RFCA
contactors; I am only sorry that we did not get a photo
of the dynamic duo in action with Donald lowering buckets of lethal glass shards by rope to Jeanne
standing below in Botanic Road.
Ceiling:An excellent
suspended ceiling has been installed and has vastly
improved the appearance of the main room and has changed
the climate from 'polar' to 'temperate'.
Walls: These have been professionally
painted in cherry red. A decision
was made to paint directly onto the brickwork and
breezeblock and this has proved very successful as a
backdrop to our showcases and pictures.
Electrics and Lighting: Frank Dean completed the wiring
and we are well provided with power points. Provision is in place for linking showcases to a lighting circuit and in
most cases the connection has actually been made. Some showcase lighting
needs to be considered for upgrading. We are looking to provide a tracked
lighting system in line with the stringent museum conservation
requirements that involve control of ultra-violet and visible light
intensities. Ian Riley has been researching this and professional advice
has been taken from several sources. A satisfactory system is liable to cost
£3000 and although we can not immediately afford this, we are going to try
to put in the infrastructure of suitable low-voltage tracking.
Showcases:
The showcases provided an
interesting engineering problem to the dedicated trustee
team who have erected them. The aluminium showcases were
erected but there were serious problems with some doors
and their hinges. These were solved by John Archer, a
teaching colleague of Ian Riley's, who has given his time
very generously to convert the skills of Design
Technology and Metalwork (and lots of other areas) into
practical help in the Museum. His qualities of ingenuity, resourcefulness
and patience together with his quiet
determined refusal to be beaten by a problem have been
truly invaluable. John Archer was also to the fore in
strengthening and refurbishing the walnut showcases which
display the best (and very elegant) technology of the
early 1900's. These have been refurbished internally
whilst the exteriors have responded wonderfully to
beeswax polish and a spot of Windowlene. Showcases have been fitted with new
baseboards lined with very high quality billiard cloth
generously donated by Peter Clare of E.A. Clare and Son,
a well-known Liverpool firm.
Pipework:
Much
of the visible pipework which was surface mounted (making the main
room look like the boiler-room of a battleship) has been diverted or
concealed. This makes wall displays much easier to arrange. Diversion has
been done by Mr. Phil Sutcliffe and his son, John. Concealment has been
done by John Archer who has created storage and display space around some
of the most obtrusive and immovable pipe work.
Vestibule: Wedecided to construct a
vestibule/entrance porch to provide a small reception area and an
intermediate area between the street and the main room for
the purposes of insulation, security and atmosphere. This major project has
been carried out by John Archer who actually camped out in the museum from
Monday to Friday for two weeks in March. Resupply and logistic
support was provided by Ian Riley (who never wants to see a
McDonald's quarter-pounder with or without cheese again .... ever)
on a nightly basis . The end result is splendid and provides an excellent
home for the wooden Liverpool Scottish war memorial that returned from St. Andrew's Church in Rodney
Street when it closed.
Building The
main part of the building, the Edge Lane TA Barracks and the gun shed
which fronts onto Botanic Road has been taken over by a property developer
and businessman who wishes to centralise the various functions of his
operations under one (large) roof. He has taken an interest in our
work.
Future Projects:We are planning to construct a large built-in display case
within an internal wall of the museum.
Displays: Dennis Reeves has completed a
further two cases featuring the Commando period of WW2
and the uniforms of Lt General Sir Colin Barber together
with Cameron items. The Forbes Bell showcase and a Pipes and Drums
showcase are nearly complete and a start has been made on First World War
cases.
Pictures: Important paintings have now
been mounted on the walls . What initially seemed a
fairly straightforward task was made difficult by the
various features that punctuate the Museum walls;
engineering skills triumphed again. It is proving difficult
to make an appropriate choice of other pictures given the
shortage of wall space. However, Messrs Ritchie and Riley are pushing
the job along using the technique of screwing a picture to the wall before
the Honorary Secretary has a chance to change his mind ...... one has to
be VERY quick.
War Memorial -
Bronze: This
has now been erected with the help of professional experts. The structure
was complicated and we needed to exercise extreme care as the WW1 memorial is
the work
of the well-known sculptor, Herbert Tyson Smith. The plaque below commemorates
the dead of WW2. This memorial is to be
re-dedicated by the Lord Mayor of Liverpool on 9th June 2002 at the
Annual Hooge Day Service of the Liverpool Scottish Regimental Association
when the Book of Remembrance will be replaced within the memorial. See
above
War Memorial -
Wooden: As mentioned
above, the wooden memorial from St. Andrew's Church has been placed in the new vestibule where it immediately sets
the scene for visitors to the Museum. The carvings on this memorial seem
to indicate that it is also from the studio of H Tyson Smith.
These notes give just a flavour and a sample of the
sort of queries thatDavid
Evans and Dennis Reeves deal with at the Museum. E-mail queries seem to arrive
at the rate of two or three a week (plus telephone and postal queries) and can
each take three hours or more to process. It is very rewarding when gratitude is
expressed, knowledge is gained or a donation of material or funds is received.
The Museum continues to provided a service with no obligation to make a donation
when other museums might charge £20 to merely open a record book.
Digitisation
- Photographs of Fred Craig and Frank McDonaldIan
Riley has been doing pilot work on the scanning of photographic
resources (the WW2 photos which Fred Craig has kindly loaned from New
Zealand and the photos and maps in the from the WW1 diary and album of Frank
Macdonald). Photos are scanned in small and large format, the reference and
a thumbnail embedded in a database and the photos stored on a CD. It is
hoped that this will eventually make the Museum's photographic collection
more readily accessible to visitors and reduce the wear on original
resources.
Research
- Ross FamilyThe Rev. Harry
Ross, Vicar of St Luke the Evangelist (almost part the Everton Football Club
at Goodison Park), has been doing extensive research into the the service of
his father and two uncles. His son, Philip Ross, has been contributing and,
as a byproduct, has produced a large number of Internet reference to the
Liverpool Scottish. They have contributed an excellent portfolio of their
research to the Museum.
Research
- Scotting FamilyDavid
Scotting, an expatriate from California whose grandfather served in WW1, has
taken a great interest in supporting our work and visited the Museum with
his father for an al fresco lunch during the early part of the year.
Research
- Watkinson FamilyCarol Williams
contacted us from Canada as the grand-daughter of JB Watkinson, a 1914
Maidaner,. From the captions in her family records she has provided us with identifications
of photographs featuring the machine gun teams and Sjt Ormesher at
Hill 60 in 1915. She has very generously sent us some of the original
photographs. We
have been able to put her in contact with a long lost cousin.
HLI PhotographDavid Linthicum contacted us from
Texas asking if we could identify and find a home for a fine photograph of
what appears to be the Sergeants' Mess of a militia battalion of the
Highland Light Infantry in 1904. Every man is identified. Negotiations are
in progress to find a suitable home for this that will display the
photograph in addition to the placing the photographic record in the Museum
of the Royal Highland Fusiliers in Glasgow. This may require a visit to
Glasgow in the summer.
Newsletter The
Museum's website has now received over 22500 unique visitors over two and a
half years who have stayed for over a minute. The on-line illustrated
edition of the last newsletter (issued in September) has been visited by
about 750 people and circulated to over 300 people via e-mail.
The Trench The
Museum website now carries a 'virtual'
exhibition of about five or six pages to depict Liverpool Scottish
trench life in 1914/15.
It uses documentary evidence from Liverpool
Scottish sources. We would like to make it suitable for school research.
The BBC broadcast a TV series called 'The Trench' during the spring in
which a group of Yorkshiremen were taken from the streets of their
native town and asked to live out the life of an infantry soldier during
the First World War.
There was a call from the 24
Hour Museum (a national resource covering 2500 museums large and
small) for material to support the BBC programme. Whilst the Imperial
War Museum heads the list on the 'Trench'
trail , slightly lower down it finds itself in the august company of
the Liverpool Scottish Museum. Mounting this proved a huge task (a
classic example of fools rushing in where angels fear to tread) and is
not yet complete, running only to late spring 1915. Notification of further
work will appear on future newsletters
An English Heritage 'Blue Plaque' was placed on the building in
Abercromby Square in Liverpool where Captain Noel Chavasse VC and Bar, MC had
lived and which had been the Bishop's Palace. Captain Chavasse's father had been
Bishop of Liverpool at the time of the First World War. The building now belongs
to the University of Liverpool. The plaque was unveiled on November 13th 2001 by
his nephew, Captain Edgar Chavasse, who is President of the Liverpool Scottish
Officers' Association (pictured left in camel coat). Other memorials to Noel Chavasse (including the memorial
in the churchyard at Brandhoek near Ypres/Ieper which was place there by the
local people in 1998 and has not been previously recorded by the Museum
website) can be seen here.
The photograph on the left appears by courtesy
of the University of Liverpool
Explanatory Notes:
Captain Noel Chavasse was the
medical officer of the 1/10th (Scottish) Battalion of the King's (Liverpool
Regiment), generally know as the Liverpool Scottish, and was the only man to
win the Victoria Cross (the highest award for gallantry) twice during the
First World War. Other memorials can be seen by clicking on the link.
Blue Plaques: English Heritage commemorates people
with Blue Plaques if they have been dead for 20 years or were born more than
100 years previously. They must have a strong reputation and have gained
recognition through their life and work. Only one Blue Plaque is erected for
any person. They are circular and are about two feet (60 cm) in diameter.
Bravest
of Hearts - 400 page History of the Liverpool Scottish in the First World
War
The publication of this high quality, extensively researched 'Bravest
of Hearts - the biography of a battalion' took place
just before Christmas 2000. This has been written by Hal
Giblin with David Evans and Dennis Reeves. It includes a
great deal of new material and is not simply a reworking of the
fine history written by Colonel McGilchrist in 1930. Much work
has been done on the citations for gallantry awards and on the
archive of material from the 55th (West Lancashire) Division as
well as including a huge amount of biographical material culled
from a huge range of sources including local newspapers and
families. It is a substantial volume, handsomely bound, well
printed and extensively illustrated. It has been produced in a
limited run and comments on it are very favourable (e.g. the
review in 'Stand To', the journal of the Western Front
Association). The Museum holds a stock a
limited stock
From the Publishers
Information
The Liverpool Scottish in the Great War. The story of the First
and second Line fighting battalions of the 10th (Scottish)
Battalion, King's Liverpool Regiment (Territorial Force).
in France and Flanders during the Great War, 1914-18.
80,000 word text. More than 450 named photographs. Rolls of Honour. Full lists of Gallantry Awards with many previously
unpublished citations, including those for Military Medals, MIDs.
Roll of men commissioned from the Ranks. Fully cross-indexed.
PRIVATELY PUBLISHED - HARDBACK -CLOTH, SEWN BINDINGS WITH DUST
COVER 400 PAGES
PRICE £29.95 POST FREE ( Ed note: presumably within the
UK) Contact the Secretary
As a postscript, there is
a fundraising note.
Yours
aye,
Ian
Riley
PS. The museum (a registered charity) is entirely
self-funding and run by unpaid volunteers using their own resources with no
financial support from any official source. We are relocating and refurbishing
the museum. A display case might cost £3000 and an information board is £200
- £300. Many military museums will not handle an enquiry without a fee (£20
minimum in the case of at least one self-funding museum). We will always
respond to a query as well as we can; please consider making a donation if you
feel you have received something of value or simply wish to support our
project. We are always glad to receive items/copies of photos but we need
funds to preserve the archive for benefit of future generations. Donations (no
matter how small) by UK taxpayers can be increased by 28% very simply by
completing a Gift Aid form at no cost to the donor.
Although
much remains to be done at the Museum,
the Lord Mayor of Liverpool will be rededicating the bronze war memorials
which were removed from Forbes House and recently re-installed (after very
considerable effort) at Botanic Road. Detail of the memorials (in their
previous location at Forbes House) are here
The service will be conducted by the
Padre of the Regimental Association,
the Rev John Williams, and will feature the replacement of the illuminated
Book of Remembrance (for the First World War) within the memorial. The Chief Executive of Reserve
Forces and Cadet Association for the North West of England (Colonel Gerry
Wells-Cole), the CO of the King's and Cheshire Regiment (Lt Col Simon
Bell), serving soldiers of the Liverpool Scottish element of KCR and
of the Liverpool Scottish ACF will be present.
