Members of staff, graduates and students of the University of Glasgow who died serving in the Second World War will be remembered through an online Roll of Honour.

The University’s Archives Department is asking members of the public to contribute details of family members connected to the University who died in the service of their country.

The names and deeds of the 448 men and women already recorded on the memorial tablets in the University Chapel will be included, however, Project Manager Iain Russell believes there could be others not yet acknowledged.

He said: “We are encouraging members of the public to come forward with information on family members or friends who either worked for the university or studied here and who died during the Second World War. We want to ensure that everyone of the University community who made the ultimate sacrifice is remembered on our new online Roll of Honour.”

Building on the success of the First World War Roll of Honour site, the new Roll of Honour will record the life dates of each of the fallen along with brief details of their lives, their achievements at the University and their war service. The second stage of the website will add biographies of each of the men and women, to form a lasting tribute that will be easily accessible to researchers from all over of the world.

Chancellor of the University, Professor Sir Kenneth Calman, said: “This project will provide a memorial of those who gave their lives during the Second World War, allowing us to remember them as individuals. They remind us not only of courage and bravery, but also of freedom and democracy.”

The Archives team are also keen to receive the reminiscences of members of the University community of their experiences during the war years, whether it be of national service in the armed forces, studying as a student, or working in the community or in industry.

The Roll will be accompanied by a short history of the impact of the war on the University and by photographs and other images from the period.

The website can be viewed at http://www.universitystory.gla.ac.uk/ww2-intro/. Members of the public interested in contributing information to the Roll of Honour should contact Iain Russell at I.Russell@archives.gla.ac.uk

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For more information please contact Kate Richardson in the University of Glasgow’s Media Relations Office on 0141 330 3683 or email K.Richardson@admin.gla.ac.uk

The image included features students erecting sandbag defences in the University quadrangles, summer 1939. In 1939 the prospect of war with Germany became increasingly likely and the country braced itself for waves of aerial assaults by German aircraft.  That summer, nearly 100 students responded to a call from Hector Hetherington, the Principal, to erect sandbag defences to protect the University buildings from bomb damage. The sandbags were intended to muffle the blast should a German bomb fall on the University or nearby.

A range of other images are available. To request these please contact Kate Richardson.

The project was funded by the University of Glasgow’s Chancellor’s Fund.

 

First published: 9 November 2007

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