ANZAC DAY – Lest We Forget
As it is ANZAC day, the BRFC Committee wants to pay respect to all Diggers, in particular Balgownie Soldiers from WWI. These people are the reason why we have our freedom and why we enjoy football on a Saturday afternoon. The words and list below are from a few years ago and were written by local historian Michael Delhaas, who was instrumental in the revitalisation of the Balgownie War Memorial, which is situated just down the road from us on the corner of Para Street and Balgownie Road. Please note that we sincerely thank Michael for the below list and that a list of the Balgownie Soldiers for WWII was not available at the time this piece was written.
“These are the soldiers listed on the Balgownie War Memorial. The list was compiled in 1929, ten years after the war had ended. By this time Memories were no longer clear and families had left the area. As a result, the Memorial is not an accurate list of those enlisted from Balgownie. This is evident in the incorrect spelling of various names and the duplicate listing of Richard Hird, He was originally listed as returned but was later also added to the list of deceased.
The criteria applied to the listing of names were based on the fact that these soldiers had some connection to the village. Some were born and raised in the area, others had lived or worked there, whilst others had some other association with the village. The Memorial covered the Balgownie area including Fairy Meadow, Tarrawanna, Fernhill, Mount Pleasant and Mount Ousley.
Those who died:
David Brownlie, Arnold Burling, Edward Percy Clout, John Edward Crompton, John Wheeler Cram, Patrick Devirs, Daniel Fraser, William Burns Gemmell, George Richard Gill, John Joseph Gough, John Boland Green, Richard Hird, John Kenning, Francis William Madden, Frederick McMahon, Patrick Francis McMahon, Thorne North, George Popple, John Reed, Robert William Scott, James Sharples, Colin Leslie Thomson, Jasper Robson Thompson and John Wheeler.
Those who returned:
Walter Adie, Thomas Henry Allison, Lester Norman Applebee, John Ashmore, George Alexander Baker, Thomas Stephen Baker, Bertrid Ambrose Barrett, Thomas Batey, William Bloomfield, William Thomas Brett, William Alexander Campbell, T Clarkson, David Grant Cook, Alexander Cowie, David Cowie, John William Crowther, Percy John Davies, William Rowland Davies, Charles McLean Dawson, James Robb Dawson, William Robb Dawson, James Devirs, Alexander Fair Duncan, Charles Richard Easterbrook, Joseph Edgar, Albert William Edwards, Albert Edward Eshman, William Henry Fielding, Alexander Findley, John Ellis Findley, Matthew Ellis Findley, Charles William Foster, Hugh Fraser, William James Furner, Patrick James (James) Gavin, Alexander Webster Gemmell, James Gemmell, David Henry Harris, Robert Alfred Harris, Edward Hayman, William Hayman, Alexander Heslop, John Heslop, John William Hooper, Alexander Hunter, Peter Templeton Hunter, Edward Alexander James, Thomas Kenning, Dr. William Love Kirkwood, Thomas Lithgow, William John Henry Lithgow, Albert Reay Lucock, Joseph Lucock, William Madden, James William Masters, John McDonald, Joseph McMahon, Edward Ernest Moorhouse, Herbert Hercules Murray, W Murray, James Nicholls, William Harold North, John Gillon Parker, Phillip Henry Potter, Thomas Edward Potter, W Price, Andrew Rae, James Rae, Archibald Ridley, James Gibson Russell, Michael Joseph Ryan, Frederick Thomas Sydney Selwyn, Edgar Arnold Sherman, Oswald William Sherman, James Simpson, Cecil C Smith, E J Smith, Francis Claude Soldi, Edwin Harold Stafford, T Stevenson, Peter Taylor, Alice Jane Thompson (Nurse), George Benjamin Ward, Samuel Cunningham Weeks, Lionel Stephen Whitbread, Richard Woods and James Young”.
Lest We Forget