WW1 in Fenwick – Lest We Forget
Discover How the First World War Affected Fenwick
The streets of Fenwick were lined with poppies on the 16th and 17th of May 2015 as Fenwick Festival of Remembrance, organised by Fenwick Parish Church, commemorated the Centenary of the First World War.
The Festival was held to remember the men of the village who lost their lives during the Great War, the first of whom died 100 years ago in May 1915. Families of the soldiers travelled from as far as Australia, Surrey, Newcastle and the North of Scotland, to join the Lord Lieutenant, and the Provost, local people and Church members to see the work that has been done by young people as part of a Heritage Lottery funded Young Roots project entitled Lest We Forget run by the Church in partnership with East Ayrshire Leisure, Burns Heritage Centre.
Art, photography and heritage research were on display in the Church Halls. A heritage and geo-caching trail took visitors to the places where the men named on the war memorial lived, many of which have changed little in 100 years. A Heritage film made by the young people was premiered on Saturday night . There was a flower festival in the Church, supported by Bloomingwales Florist in Stewarton, a poppy tea room and community art activities. Land Engineering worked with the Church to create a Garden of Remembrance where many people laid their own tributes.
On Sunday morning a Service of Remembrance was held in the Church and at the War Memorial attended by the Lord Lieutenant, the Provost, the British Legion and representatives of local schools and community groups who laid wreaths to remember the sacrifice of local men. After a rainy Service at the War Memorial, where the Rev Geoff Redmayne included elements of the original Service of Dedication for the Memorial, everyone returned to the Church Hall for a lunch at which pupils from Fenwick Primary sang.
The weekend was very well attended with the Church filled to capacity and, although no formal fundraising took place over £800 was donated by visitors to support the work of Poppy Scotland.
You may already be aware of the Scotland’s War Project which can be found at http://www.scotlandswar.ed.ac.uk. It is second only in public engagement terms to the Imperial War Museum’s programme.
As you will be able to see, the content is growing and we are receiving new contributions almost every day from home and abroad.
I have attached below a background paper to give you more information and would be pleased to hear from you if you might consider contributing to the content.
If you wish to discuss any aspect of this, please give me a telephone number and suggest a good time to call.
Best wishes
Yvonne McEwen
Project Director
Scotland’s War
Background information
In 2008, Yvonne McEwen from the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for the Study of Modern Conflict began working with Edinburgh, Leith and the Lothians’ libraries, schools and community groups to ensure the story of the contribution made by people and institutions to the Great War is not forgotten. This public engagement project was supported by a team of dedicated volunteers and was titled Edinburgh’s War. The success of the project was reflected in the growth of partnerships which includes The National Library of Scotland, The Commonwealth War Graves Commission, The Scottish Military Research Group and the Royal Commission for Ancient and Historic Monuments Scotland.
Between 2008 and 2013 a very successful public engagement programme was developed which resulted in the launch of a WW1 website created from the stories submitted to the project by the public and collaborative research carried out with the partnerships, and national and international institutions. The project was so successful that a representative from the Imperial War Museum came to see what was happening in Edinburgh in advance of the IWM proposed ‘Lives of the First World War’ project.
In October 2012, the University of Edinburgh, in collaboration with Edinburgh City Libraries, launched the first UK libraries based World War One History Hub which not only continues to engage with the people of Edinburgh, Leith and the Lothians but also with national and international communities. The Hub is also designed to host WW1 history, poetry, music, art events and workshops for schools and community groups. It also carries out WW1 genealogy research. In 2013, due to the success of the project and public interest, the project expanded into a national programme – Scotland’s War – and now includes 20 Councils throughout Scotland and The Scotsman newspaper.
On 4 February 2015 the Scotland’s War national project was launched at Abden House by Professor Sir Timothy O’Shea. It can be found at http://www.scotlandswar.ed.ac.uk.
This national public engagement project aims to record, secure and promote an accurate, ethical, evidence-based history of Scotland’s Home and Fighting Fronts during WW1, and to bring this history to an audience across Scotland, the UK, and beyond.
In addition to creating a Scotland’s War national digital archive website, a host of outreach activities are designed to bring the histories of the period to a wider audience.
Using the same successful template from the Edinburgh’s War project, the national initiative seeks to ensure that the people of Scotland have a voice about their war. Over the next four years there will be a unique opportunity to allow the present generation of Scots to trace the footsteps of their ancestors in order to tell the whole story of Scotland’s people, and to reflect on the consequences of the conflict.
The project will focus on the stories, documents, archives, photographs, manuscripts and artifacts from the Home and Fighting Fronts of World War One. These will be accessed, restored, maintained and enhanced through collaborative work with the partnership, Scottish libraries, community volunteers, local genealogy and historical societies, and many will be seen for the first time by a wider audience. The end result will be the construction of a virtual history of Scotland’s contribution to World War One.
The Scotland’s War Virtual Archive Aims
” To highlight new stories and different perspectives
” To enable people to learn in ways and settings that suit them
” To attract new and more diverse audiences
” To encourage people to record and share their own heritage
” To provide opportunities for people to contribute to wider knowledge
” To involve people in creating heritage for others
Nearly 100 years after the outbreak of the First World War it is far easier to research the lives of those who died during the war than those who survived it; yet it is the descendants of those who survived who are more likely to be searching in the 21st century for their ancestors’ service histories.
The centenary of these events, which had such a dramatic effect on the Scottish nation, creates an opportunity to produce a unique and ground-breaking record of the social, military, economic and political contributions Scotland made to the Great War and the subsequent impact on the nation.
The stated objectives of the Scotland’s War commemorative initiatives are to ensure the programme is relevant to all ethnic, religious and secular parts of Scottish society and that an equitable, ethical and historically accurate virtual archive is produced. The prime objectives are to provide opportunities for people to learn about the war in meaningful ways, and to recognise the contributions and sacrifices made by all the peoples of Scotland on the Home and Fighting Fronts.