Projects

Project Team: Hunterian Museum & Art Gallery

Project Title: Glasgow West War Story

Through the "Glasgow West War Story", the Hunterian Museum will be organising a series of events in order to gather and record stories from local people who served in World War II and subsequent conflicts. There will be interview sessions with veterans, visits to local sites connected to the war and interactive workshops creating an unrivalled anthology for use by local schools, young people and amateur historians. The Hunterian will approach older alumni of University of Glasgow to record their personal stories of the war. In addition, five local secondary schools, with strong links to the University and the Officer Training Corps, will also be involved in collecting accounts of veterans' experiences.

Exhibitions in this Project:

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Doctors in the Midst of Conflict

The Second World War caused conflict across the globe and was fought across many different countries and continents. It started in Europe spreading east from Germany into Poland through on into Russia, westwards through France and the Netherlands until most of Europe was at war. This led to the fighting spreading from Europe, through the Mediterranean Sea and into North Africa and the Middle East. On 7th December 1941, Japan attacked the United States Fleet at Pearl Harbour as well as landing in Thailand and Malaya. This brought the USA, United Kingdom, Australia, China and other western allies to declare war on Japan. Now the fighting had expanded into the Pacific Ocean and the Far East. Wherever British troops were sent, the Royal Army Medical Corps would follow giving medical assistance wherever and whenever necessary. This could lead to medical staff being very close to the front line working in incredibly difficult conditions. This exhibition tells the extraordinary stories of three doctors who served in the Royal Army Medical Corps in Europe, North Africa, Ceylon, and Burma. view project

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Evacuation Overseas: Doris Gordon's story

With the threat of war imminent, the British government made preparations for the evacuation of children from cities and built up areas likely to be the target of German air attacks, to safer areas in the countryside. However, with the surrender of France to Germany in June 1940, Britain feared an invasion by the Germans. Plans to evacuate children overseas were made. The Children Overseas Reception Board (CORB) was established to co-ordinate the evacuation. Evacuation overseas was voluntary and parents could register their children aged between five and sixteen for the scheme. Children were sent to live with families in America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, where they would remain until after the war had ended whilst their parents stayed at home in Britain. Not only did evacuation overseas mean that children were separated from their families, they also faced long voyages and the risk of being attacked by German submarines. On the 17th September 1940 the ship SS City of Benares was sunk by a submarine U-48 on its way to Canada. Of those onboard 77 children died. The news devastated those back in Britain and the overseas evacuation scheme was stopped shortly afterwards. This exhibition tells the story of Doris Aitchson Gordon who was evacuated to Canada in 1940 to live with her aunt and uncle in Oshawa. view project

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Armed Forces: the Royal Navy

During World War II men were recruited into the Royal Navy in a variety of roles. These roles included: seamen, signalmen and telegraphists; stokers; engine-room, electrical and ordnance artificers; shipwrights; blacksmiths, joiners, painters and plumbers; air fitters, air riggers and air mechanics; sick berth ratings; writer and supply ratings; officers’ stewards; and cooks. Throughout the war the Royal Navy helped defend Britain’s supplies of food, raw materials and weapons. This exhibition recalls the experiences of Mr Maclean who joined the Royal Navy in 1945 just before the end of the war. Mr Maclean was a boy during the war. He was evacuated to Whitecraigs shortly after the outbreak of the war but later returned home to Glasgow. He joined Glasgow University Naval Division and went on to spend three years in the Royal Navy. On his release of service from the Navy in 1948 he began a degree in Electronic Engineering at Glasgow University graduating with a BSc in 1953. Mr Maclean has fond memories of his time in the Royal Navy but visiting countries such as Japan in 1947, he also witnessed first-hand the devastation caused by war. view project

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Wartime Production: Morris Furniture company and the War Effort

Wartime production in Britain was crucial to the performance of the allied forced during World War II. The normal productions of many factories were suspended as skills and resources were focused on the war effort. This exhibition explores the work of Glasgow based Morris Furniture Company who converted their premises and machinery during the war to make rifle and aeroplane parts. Historian Charles Mackay talks about the company’s contribution to the war effort. view project

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School Evacuation: Laurel Bank School and Hutchesons' Girls Grammar School

During the Second World War many chidlren were evacuated from major towns and cities like Glasgow and sent to the countryside to keep them safe from air raids. Schools like Laurel Bank and Hutchesons' Girls Grammar School organised for the whole school to be moved to premises in the countryside. In this exhibition you can find out what impact this had on the pupils and teachers. On the morning of September 1st, 1939 the pupils of Laurel Bank School were evacuated to Auchterarder House and Strathallan Castle. The senior girls at Laurel Bank were taken to Auchterarder House, a large country house on the outskirts of Auchterarder, owned by James Reid. The junior girls were taken to Strathallan Castle, the home of Sir James and Lady Roberts and family. On the morning of the evacuation, a bus took the pupils from Laurel Bank to the station to board a train to Gleneagles where there were coaches waiting to take them to Auchterarder House and Strathallan Castle. The girls wore identity labels with their name and address around their necks. They carried gas masks and a small suitcase. The station was full of children from other schools also waiting to be taken out of Glasgow. In this exhibition three former Laurel Bank pupils share their memories of being evacuated. Hutchesons’ Grammar School is an independent school in Glasgow. Until 1975 the school was two schools, Hutchesons’ Boys Grammar School and Hutchesons’ Girls Grammar School. The girls’ school was based at Kingarth Street on the south side of the Glasgow. On the 25th March 1941, Hutchesons’ Grammar like other independent schools evacuated the children as a whole school to Milton Park. Milton Park House is near Dalry, Kirkcudbright and belonged to Lord Sinclair. This exhibition includes the oral history of Sara Cockburn who was a young teacher at Hutchesons’ Girls Grammar School and at Milton Park during the Second World War.view project

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Training for War

Training for students intending on joining the H.M Forces has been provided at the university since 1909 with the establishment of the Glasgow University Contingent of the Senior Division of the Officers’ Training Corps. A university Air Squadron was established in 1941, and a Naval Division the following year. During World War II many students enrolled in one of the university training branches and experienced active service in all theatres of war. This exhibtion recalls the expreiences of Mr Maclean who volunteered to join the University Naval Division in 1945 just after leaving school, and Dr Pow who joined the Officer Training Corps whilst studying for his degree in Medicine at the university. view project

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Doctors at D-Day: Professor Grist's story

Wherever British troops were sent, the Royal Army Medical Corps would follow giving medical assistance wherever and whenever necessary. This could lead to medical staff being very close to the front line working in incredibly difficult conditions. This exhibition focuses on the incredible experiences of Professor Grist, who as a young doctor in the Royal Army Medical Corps, was sent to northern France to give medical support to the troops at the D-Day Landings. view project

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Home Life during World War II

During World War II people at home in Britain had to adjust to many changes to their daily lives. Rationing of food and clothes was introduced shortly after the outbreak of the war, windows had to be covered during the blackout, and people had to live with the threat of enemy attacks and bombing. Home life was particularly hard for those who had family members serving in the war or who were separated from their families in the evacuation scheme. During the war entertainment such as the cinema and the dancehalls helped people try to live as normal life as possible. This exhibition features the reminiscences’ of Mrs MacGregor, Dr Ross, Sister Ward and Mrs Donaldson who explain the impact war had on life at home in Scotland. view project

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Women Doctors at Home during the War

During World War One, women volunteered for essential work in order to release men to go into the armed forces. In the late 1930s as it became clear that Britain would be entering hostilities with Nazi Germany it was obvious that women would be again, needed to volunteer. However, it soon became obvious that the numbers of women volunteering would not meet demands of war. In December 1941, Parliament passed the National Service Act (no 2), which allowed the conscription of women. At first, only single women aged 20-30 were called up, but by mid-1943, almost 90 per cent of single women and 80 per cent of married women were employed in essential war work. Most women took over civilian jobs, working in factories or on the land, or working for the civil defence, however some women were conscripted into the armed forces. Though it was emphasised that a woman would never have to bear arms, she would not fire a weapon. This exhibition highlights the contribution that women doctors made in the British Army. It focuses on Dr Constance Ross, who through the early years of the Second World War was a young medical student at the University of Glasgow and ended the war as a medical officer in the Royal Army Medical Corps stationed in Britain. It was still unusual for a woman to be a doctor in the 1940’s and a woman as a medical officer was even more rare. Dr Ross throughout her military career was met with acceptance but also resistance from colleagues and patients in what was the very male environment of the British Army. view project

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Health and Housing in Postwar Glasgow

The aftermath of World War II brought many changes to the provisions for health care and housing in Britain. As cities repaired their war damaged buildings, plans for new housing developments were also put into action creating improved living conditions for those previously housed in the overcrowded inner city areas. New housing was seen as the solution to preventing the spread of disease caused by overcrowding and rundown housing before the war. Perhaps the greatest improvements to living conditions came in 1948 with the establishment of the National Health Service (NHS) providing free access to health care for everyone. This exhibition explores the improvements to post war health and housing through the reminiscences of three Glasgow doctors: Dr Ross, Professor Grist and Dr Fairlie. This exhibition also includes the memories of Mrs Primrose who remembers living in a prefabricated house after World War Two. view project

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Evacuees in Scotland

With the threat of war imminent the British government made preparations for the evacuation of children, teachers and mothers with children under the age of five from cities and built up areas likely to be the target of German air attacks to safer areas in the countryside. Evacuation was voluntary and parents could register if they wanted their children to be part of the scheme. By the outbreak of the war more than 1.5 million people had been evacuated; it was the largest migration of people within the country in British history. Many parents decided to bring their children home as Scotland was not being heavily bombed. However, with the start of the blitz in Britain many people sent their children away again to areas at less risk from bombing. This exhibition highlights the experiences of three child evacuees who were sent away from Glasgow and a teacher who accompanied and taught evacuated children. view project

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Memories, memorials and the University of Glasgow Chapel

After World War II, the University of Glasgow sought to provide a tribute to the memory of its students, staff and graduates who died in active service. This exhibition explores how the fallen are remembered at the University. It includes an interview with the current Chaplain to the University, Reverend Stuart MacQuarrie, together with accounts and memories of the war written by students at the time.view project

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Conscientious Objectors and Non Combatants

This exhibition focuses on one man’s decision to apply for conscientious objector status during the Second World War and how he became a non-combatant serving in a medical unit in North Africa and the Middle East. It explores the reasons behind his decisions and opinions. Edwin Morgan is one of Scotland’s leading poets and was made the first Glasgow Poet Laureate and in 2004 he was named as the Scots Makar, the first Scottish national poet. His service in the Non-Combatant Corps during the Second World War inspired him to write a number of poems in later years reflecting on his experiences. view project

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Wartime Communication: Interception

Knowing what your enemy is planning to do is an advantage in winning any war. Knowing what your enemy is planning to do, without them knowing that you know is crucial. Radio communication was essential to both sides during the Second War, in ensuring that orders and messages were sent quickly from central command to the front lines. To stop the enemy from understanding the information sent, each side put their messages into code and sent the messages over the radio waves using Morse code, as a series of long and short sounds. The coded Morse code messages were intercepted, picked up by Special Wireless Operators working in “Y” stations across Britain and overseas. They would write down the Morse code and then the information would be sent to Station X, which was Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire. Bletchey Park was the main centre for code breaking in the United Kingdom. The code breakers at Bletchley developed early computers to help them break the enemy codes. They are also famous for deciphering the Enigma code, a code so complicated it was believed to be unbreakable. The information and intelligence produced by the people who worked at the “Y” stations collecting the messages, and the code breakers at Station “X” is thought to have shortened the length of the war, and saved many lives. This exhibition focuses on Norna MacFarlane’s experiences as a Special Wireless Operator working out of the Y station at Beaumanor Hall, Leicestershire. view project