Story of Larbert, Stenhousemuir WWI fallen to be told

A project to remember a community's sacrifice during the Great War has been awarded a Heritage Lottery Fund grant to compile a book.
By The Newsroom
Published 26th Apr 2016, 12:58 BST
Updated 26th Apr 2016, 14:02 BST
The stories of the men behind the names on Larbert war memorial will be told in a new bookThe stories of the men behind the names on Larbert war memorial will be told in a new book
The stories of the men behind the names on Larbert war memorial will be told in a new book

Falkirk Local History Society will receive £9000 as part of HLF’s ongoing First World War: then and now programme which is part of the 100th anniversary commemorations.

Larbert High School’s former head of history Russell MacGillivray will compile the background stories of over 280 soldiers from Larbert and Stenhousemuir who fell in the Great War and whose names are on the war memorial.

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The research will be published in the autumn as an illustrated book, World War 1 Larbert and Stenhousemuir: a community’s sacrifice, which will be made widely available.

The history group will also create a Larbert/Stenhousemuir WWI pop-up exhibition for display in schools, libraries, community centres and shops; try to locate family members of the dead soldiers or of those who served and survived so that their stories can be recorded; offer organisations like Probus, The Guild and Rotary as well as schools and community groups, illustrated talks on the impact of the war on the villages.

Chairman of Falkirk Local History Society Ian Scott said: “We are very grateful to the Heritage Lottery Fund for agreeing to our proposal to support Russell MacGillivray’s research and allow us to bring it to the public in various forms.

“It is a key part of our mission to ensure that the stories of family sacrifice are not lost and that those who fell are not merely names on a bronze plaque.

“The children especially need to know how ordinary men from this corner of the country did extraordinary things when called upon to do so.”