GREAT SERVANTS TO CLUB AND COUNTRY

In 2015, Queen’s Park embarked on a range of initiatives to not only develop a more complete picture of the large number of members and players of the club who served in the armed forces in the Great War 1914-18 but also to report periodically as more information and photographs were obtained and added to the club records.

By the centenary of the Armistice in November 2018, it had been established that at least 234 Queen’s Park members and players enlisted during the Great War, 34 of whom lost their lives.

PAPERS AND APPENDIXES

An initial paper on the “THE 226 QUEEN’S PARK MEN WHO SERVED” was updated in April 2017.  Click HERE to read this paper.  Four appendixes were produced to accompany the paper.

APPENDIX 1, dated April 2017, provides biographical military and footballing backgrounds on 44 QUEEN’S PARK MEN WHO SERVED AND SURVIVED, listed alphabetically and with numbered references. The men featured include David Cameron (8), Tom Fitchie (12), Gordon Hoare (13), William McKenna (21), Ralph Risk (29), John Roberts (30), Bob Young (39), William Stewart (43) and William Wiseman (44).  Click HERE to read APPENDIX 1.

APPENDIX 2, dated April 2017, provides details of a further 52 QUEEN’S PARK MEN WHO SERVED AND SURVIVED, including Peter Grant (59), Robert Lambie (66), John McLean (77), Archibald Swann (87), David Wilson (89) and Leslie Skene (92).  Click HERE to read APPENDIX 2.

APPENDIX 3 was updated in August 2018. It provides data and the backgrounds on the 34 QUEEN’S PARK MEN WHO LOST THEIR LIVES, including Eddie Garvie (104) and the four Queen’s Park men killed at the Battle of Loos on 25 September 1915; William Anderson (100); Robin Ferguson ((101); Ebenezer Hamilton (102); and George Legge (103).  Click HERE to read APPENDIX 3.

APPENDIX 4, produced in September 2017, listed the names of 97 of “THE QUEEN’S PARK MEMBERS AND PLAYERS WHO SERVED AND SURVIVED” but about whom little else was known.  The appendix was updated in November 2018 and then again in January 2020.  The appendix now contains new and corrected information on 22 Queen’s Park men who served in the war.  The number of men about whom little is known has reduced to 92.  Click HERE to read the updated Appendix 4.

In November 2017, a paper was produced on “THE TEN QUEEN’S PARK MEN WHO DIED IN 1917”.  Click HERE to read this paper.  A further paper “THE NINE QUEEN’S PARK MEN WHO DIED IN 1918” was produced in May 1918.  Click HERE to access the paper.

Click HERE to read the paper “REMEMBERING ARTHUR & HERBERT MURRAY” – two brothers who played for both Queen’s Park and Arbroath (paper written on occasion of Queen’s Park v Arbroath match on 11 November 1917).

2018 REPORT – GREAT SERVANTS TO CLUB AND COUNTRY

When the Great War Project was instigated in 2015, the aim was to produce a report of the findings in 2018. The 2018 REPORT – GREAT SERVANTS TO CLUB AND COUNTRY was published in June 2018.  The report summarises the information obtained over the three years of the project and features topics such as the men who lost their lives; those who received bravery awards; sets of brothers who served; and the players who were Scotland internationalists.  5,000 copies of the report were printed, and copies have been distributed to the families of men who served; members and supporters of the club; public libraries; as well as the general public.  Click HERE to read the Project Report.

LEAFLET AND PAMPHLET

In February 2016, Queen’s Park distributed a leaflet setting out the aims of the Initiative; acknowledging initial responses and submissions; and seeking more information. Click HERE to read the leaflet.  Then, in May 2016, a 12-page A4 colour pamphlet was published setting out the research work and other activities being progressed from April to December 2016, with the assistance of a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.  Click HERE to read the pamphlet.

FILMS AND VIDEOS

In 2017, Queen’s Park commissioned a short film “QUEEN’S PARK FC AND THE GREAT WAR” explaining the club’s Great War initiative and outlining the progress made at December 2016.  The film includes footage of the visit of a group of players, members and supporters to the Digging In project in Glasgow’s Pollok Country Park. Click HERE to watch the film.

In May 2018, Queen’s Park were approached by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport – the UK Government department responsible for organising First World War commemorations.  They advised that they were marking 100 years since the Battle of Amiens which began on 8 August 1918. On the first day of the battle, 25-year-old George Ramsay, a Queen’s Park 1st X1 player from 1911/12, had been killed in action.  A Queen’s Park youth coach, Alex Lawrence, was filmed in June 2018 on the Hampden campus reflecting on George Ramsay’s life and early death on the first day of the battle.  Click HERE to view the DCMS video clip.

ROLL OF HONOUR

The Queen’s Park Roll of Honour, with the World War One plaque, is located in the Scottish Football Museum at Hampden Park.  The Roll of Honour forms part of a Football and the Great War exhibition being staged by the Museum.  The exhibition is scheduled to close at the end of May 2019.

The World War One plaque on the Roll of Honour contains the names of 216 men, of whom 29 lost their lives in the conflict.  By November 2018, the number of members and players known to have served had risen to 234, with the number of dead now 34.  It is hoped to more formally recognise the additional members, players and former players identified during the course of the Great War Project.  Consideration will also be given to creating a new memorial to the 34 men who died.

WW1 POSTER DISPLAY and PHOTO GALLERY in UPSTAIRS CORRIDOR OF J B McALPINE PAVILION

The club’s Great War initiative was successful in securing Heritage Lottery Fund grants from their ‘WW1 -THEN and NOW’ programme.  These have enabled photographs to be scanned, digitally stored and catalogued within a new Queen’s Park and the Great War section of the ‘QUEEN’S PARK COLLECTION’ held by the Scottish Football Museum.  Funds were also provided by HLF to produce poster and photo displays for the gallery in the upstairs corridor of the J B McAlpine Pavilion at Lesser Hampden.  Copies of the individual and team boards featuring many of the 100 Queen’s Park 1st X1 players who served in the Great War can be accessed by clicking HERE.  The name captions identify in DARK BOLD lettering the players who are known to have enlisted in the Forces; and in RED those QP men who lost their lives.CLICK HERE to access the teams and individuals added to the Gallery in 2018.

The full biographies of individual players included in the Gallery can be accessed in Frank McCrossan’s Appendices for EDDIE GARVIE (104); JOHN BARBOUR (106); ROBERT CHRISTIE (122); HARRY FLETCHER (113); GEORGE RAMSAY (124); and 2 men who served and survived ; R S McCOLL (18) and CHARLES B MILLER (23).

A Three Panel QP/WW1 poster display is also located in the upstairs corridor. To view, CLICK HERE.

BOOK BY FRED ELLSWORTH

In July 2017, Queen’s Park member Fred Ellsworth published a book “QUEEN’S PARK FOOTBALL CLUB AND THE GREAT WAR 1914-1918”, which provides an account on the contribution made the members and players of Queen’s Park who served in the Great War.

Queen’s Park were awarded a second WW1 -THEN AND NOW grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund in April 2017.  Part of the grant enabled the club to obtain 130 hardback copies of Fred Ellsworth’s excellent publication.  These copies were gifted by Queen’s Park to relatives of those who served; persons who actively assisted the club’s project; and libraries in Glasgow and South Lanarkshire to assist in raising awareness.  Queen’s Park also obtained 50 paperback copies of book. For a £5 donation to the club’s youth and community initiatives, members and supporters can obtain a copy from the Queen’s Park office at Lesser Hampden during normal office hours or from the Souvenir Shop at Hampden Park on match days (while stocks last).

FURTHER INFORMATION WELCOMED

Queen’s Park continue to invite general comment as well as information from the families of members and former players who served. Correspondence should be addressed by post to The Secretary, Queen’s Park FC, Hampden Park, Glasgow G42 9BA or email secretary@queensparkfc.co.uk

As more information is received and researched, Queen’s Park intend to issue new and updated papers on these great servants to club and country.