WWI Exhibition – We need your help

Do you have family tales of what happened in Arran during this terrible conflict? How did it affect your ancestors? The Arran Heritage Museum has been asked by NA Museum Forum to mount an exhibition next year for the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of this war, and we need the help of Arran people to give this an island dimension. We would love to hear the stories handed down in your family about this time, to see the photographs and papers, if any, of the men who went to war, whether they were lucky enough to return or not.

Any documents, letters or pictures will be treated with care and respect, scanned and returned. We also want to hear stories about those who stayed at home and endured the war and the hardships it brought to the home front. How did farmers manage when most of the able-bodied men were away, what changes did this bring to the lives of women and children? Was your grandmother one of those brave women who went off to work in munitions, or on the buses and trams in Glasgow, or to other work previously considered to be “men’s work”?

How did farmers manage without horses? Was there a return to the more primitive methods of farming, or did the lack of them kick start an agricultural leap into mechanisation? What about the fishing community? Lack of men, increased sea traffic around Arran, and difficulties of transporting catches to fish auctions and buyers must all have taken their toll.

We’d also like to feature Arran Auxiliary Hospital run by Lady Mary Graham (later the Duchess of Montrose) in what later became the Village Hall in Lamlash. Did your grandfather recuperate there and later return to live and marry on Arran?

Arran War Memorial Hospital was a positive thing that came out of the troubles and tragedies the war brought. Any tales of building and setting it up will add to the dry bones of official documents and bring to life the people who worked hard to establish it.

Please bring your stories and papers along to the Museum on Wednesdays, or contact any of the Museum’s volunteers. We have limited display space available, and may not be able to feature your contribution, but, with your help, we can mount an interesting exhibition and create for future generations an archive which will document this seminal time for our beloved Arran.