I have came across a paragraph from an newspaper saying ‘ Back Street in Renton though a small Street has it is said sent more soldiers than any other Street for its size in Scotland.’
September 8th 1915.
Does anyone know anything about .this claim and is there a local War Memorial in Renton..
You may be onto something. I went through some old newspaper articles and noted the following..
Fatalities and Missing in Action:
1. Private James Harkins
Address: 135 Back Street, Renton
Regiment: 3rd Battalion Scottish Borderers
Date of Death: 26 April 1915
2. Private John McCallum
Address: 135 Back Street, Renton
Regiment: 9th Black Watch
Status: Missing presumed dead in 1915, aged 31
3. Thomas Burrell
Address: 97 Back Street
Background: Fought in the Indian Mutiny of 1857; his father fought at Waterloo in 1815
Date of Death: 1914
Wounded in Action:
1. Private Norman James
Address: 48 Back Street, Renton
Regiment: 2nd Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
Details: Wounded April 1915; previously served in Boer War
2. Private John Carracher
Regiment: 1st Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
Details: Wounded April 2015, aged 30
3. Sapper Patrick McGuire
Address: 136 Back Street
Regiment: 1st Canadian Contingent
Details: Wounded 24 April 1915, aged 36
4. Sergeant Conroy
Address: 133 Back Street
Regiment: Argyle and Sutherlands
Details: Seriously wounded 18 October 1914
5. Private James Rowan
Address: 132 Back Street
Regiment: Dunbartonshire Volunteers
Details: Wounded April 2015, aged 21
6. Private John Lamant
Address: 73 Back Street
Regiment: Dunbartonshire Territorials
Details: Wounded April 1915
7. William Young
Regiment: Dunbartonshire Territorials
Details: Wounded April 1915
8. Private Houston Easdale
Regiment: 1st Royal Scots Fusiliers
Details: Wounded June 1915
9. Private George David
Address: 66 Back Street
Regiment: Royal Scots Fusiliers
Details: Wounded June 1915
10. Sapper Robert Allison
Address: 48 Back Street
Regiment: Royal Engineers
Details: Wounded June 1915, aged 24
11. Private John Dunnion
Address: 132 Back Street
Details: Hospitalised after being gassed, June 1915
Non-combat Injuries:
Neil McLeod
Background: Discharged from the Black Watch
Event: Injured by a tram on Main Street of Renton, December 2017
Honors and Awards:
1. Edward Malloy
Address: 93 Back Street
Details: Awarded the Military Medal November 1916, expert rifleman, aged 28
Memorial Information:
Event: Unveiling of the Renton Memorial
Location: Howgate, Renton
Date: 1922
Details: Memorial has 158 names inscribed.
There is probably a lot more that I missed
You can read more about the war memorial here... https://www.valeofleven.org.uk/warmemorials4.html
Thanks for the information. We have a long ongoing mystery here in Glasgow concerning Lyon Street which claims to be the street in Glasgow which had the highest amount of casualties during the Great War. Despite searching every where the is no written proof of this long standing claim. Seemingly there was a Roll of Honour in a pub in the area for many years but it has disappeared and no one has any idea what happened to it. Sometimes these local private Rolls Of Honour included names of those who served and not necessarily just the ones who were killed...the fact that I came across this wee snippet in a newspaper from 1915...makes me doubt if the claim is correct.
Many Thanks
Charlie McDonald.
