Seventeen men who lost their lives in World War I (known then as the Great War) are commemorated on Trinity\u2019s War Memorial.\u00a0\u00a0Seventeen very different lives lived \u2013 and given – in service of their country.<\/p>\n
Of the 17 men, 12 of them were either Scots or had family connections with Scotland, for at that time this church was a Presbyterian church and Scots who found themselves in London naturally migrated towards their local Presbyterian church.\u00a0 The minister was a Scot and very many members too, so they quickly felt at home.<\/p>\n
Some were young lads barely out of school, but they were not all raw Army recruits.\u00a0\u00a0There were also professional soldiers with years of experience \u2013 four of them had previously served in South Africa in the second Boer War.<\/p>\n
Several of the men had experience of living in other continents \u2013 4 were born in India, 2 were living in Canada, and another returned from a promising career in the Philippines to enlist at the outbreak of war.<\/p>\n
The price paid by these 17 was multiplied many, many times by their families at home, waiting for news.\u00a0 Six young women were left widows, and one lost her fianc\u00e9e of just a few weeks; 17 children were left fatherless (2 were born after their fathers were killed).\u00a0 Mothers, fathers, grandparents, brothers, sisters, friends \u2013 so much pain and sorrow as the church magazine recorded so poignantly.<\/p>\n
On the memorial you will see the names of two sets of brothers \u2013 James and Dugald Gilkison, and George and Jasper Bruce.<\/p>\n
James, or Jim, Gilkison was the first to die three weeks into the war at Le Cateau.\u00a0 He had been engaged to his fianc\u00e9e for only 11 weeks.\u00a0 And his brother Dugald, a professional soldier, said to be one of the very best soldiers in the Army, died just 3\u00bd weeks later leaving 4 children under 7.\u00a0 Their parents lost both their sons and a son-in-law to the war.<\/p>\n
The Bruce brothers from Canada had enlisted in British regiments as they had been born here.\u00a0 Coincidentally they were both to succumb to the Spanish Flu while serving in France, and back in Canada.<\/p>\n
These 17 men left their work and joined up \u2013 many within just a few days of the declaration of War:\u00a0 a medical student; factory manager; chartered accountant; a painter & decorator; a barrister, a rancher from Canada, a solicitor\u2026.. and 3 professional soldiers.<\/p>\n
They all went into the Army, although one (Ralph Erskine) later transferred to the newly-formed Royal Flying Corps \u2013 and was killed when he shot down over Italy in 1918.<\/p>\n
The average age at death was 36\u00bd years.\u00a0 The oldest (Cleare) was 40 when he was killed in a shell burst in France, and the three youngest were 20 \u2013 killed in action, with no further information about them.<\/p>\n
The stories of the seventeen men can be read here<\/a>.<\/p>\n If anyone has any further information about any of the men please contact Catherine Paul at churchsecretaries@trinitywimbledon.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Seventeen men who lost their lives in World War I (known then as the Great War) are commemorated on Trinity\u2019s War Memorial.\u00a0\u00a0Seventeen very different lives lived \u2013 and given – in service of their country. Of the 17 men, 12 of them were either Scots or had family connections with Scotland, for at that time … <\/p>\n