A talk will be given on the Battle for Ayette and the involvement in the said attack by the 15th (Glasgow Tramways) Battalion of the Highland Light Infantry, The meeting will be held in the Carwood Centre in Bridgeton Public Library in Landressy Street, Glasgow on Saturday 28th March at 1.00 pm all who are interested please register as soon as possible - the talk is free and there will be ample car parking for those who attend. Refreshments and snacks will be available throughout the day...which means a well stocked bar in anyone's langauge.

Put my name down.

Charlie,

Stick my name down please Matey.

Tom

wish i could be there too far to travel, have a good time
xxxx for charlie.

mandy
ps charlie can you pm me pls not sure if you remember me, alan, bex and seb but have news about alan.

How could I ever forget you and Alan and the kids. I still recall the day when we all met for the first time outside Bruno's and how that special day we discussed the Glasgow Service Battalions involvement in that area and from that day 'the Spirit of Authuille' was born. And whenever I do my special visit every First of July to the Highland Light Infantry Memorial Plaque I not only remember the sacrifice of the young men from Glasgow but also the many friends that I have met and made on the Somme since we first met back in the early 1990's.

Charlie

Stop calling me Davie

I am currently working on dates for possible visits to the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders Museum , The Black Watch Museum over the summer months...and also a visit to The Poppy Factory in Edinburgh.

On the talk front there is plans afoot to have a guest speaker to give a talk on the 36th (Ulster) Division plus talk by yours truly doing on a talk on the three Service Battalions from Glasgow the 15th , 16th & 17th Highland Light Infantry on the Somme.

So if you are keen to attend or get involved then please let me know so I can have a rough idea what sort of numbers I will be dealing with - remember all Thistle & Poppy Society meetings are free of charge and visits to other Great War places of interest will consist of subsidised travel although numbers may be limited to 12 in the mini-bus.

Anyone interested in visiting the battlefields of the Somme and Ypres please let me know as we have the means and the resources without it costing us an arm and a leg.

Anyone interested in joining our party from Glasgow who will be visiting the Western Front for the First of July Commemorations please contact me for the deatils.

I would like to be there but A tad to far to travel.Please remember my Great Granddad
John Duncan Leitch K.I.A 7/15/17 and enjoy your time together. William W.

I received conformation today that a wreath will at long last be laid at The Thiepval Memorial To The Missing at the First of July Battle of The Somme Commemorations on behalf of the people of Scotland and the Scots Parliament this year. It will be laid by Alex Neil MSP in memory of all servicemen and women who fought , died or suffered during the Great War whilst serving in Scots Regiments or Scots units plus other British and Commonwealth Regiments.

The First of July this year marks the 10th Anniversary of the opening of the Scottish Parliament.

Can you tell me more about the Society. We're planning to return to Scotland next year after 44 years in Canada. Yours, Antony

We are in the process of builiding a message board and producing a publicity leaflet which will give you the history of the Society which was founded back in 1990 through a group of friends and Great War enthusiasts in the east end of Glasgow. Although it has been basically a one man band over the last five or six years there are moves afoot to re-establish it in Scotland with branches in other towns and cities other than Glasgow.

Through our efforts we have been responsible for the 15th, 16th and 17th Battalions of the Highland Light Infantry Memorial in the village of Authuille plus the Glasgow Memorial Bench in the same village. We have been responsible for tracing and photographing hundreds of graves of 'Fallen Soldiers' on behalf of relatives ever since our inception in 1990 plus the raising of several thousand pounds for elderly charities in Glasgow.

We have also been honoured and priviledged to organise trips to the battlefields of the Somme , Ypres , Aarnhem and Normandy for veterans and relatives of 'the Fallen' over the last 19 years. Included in this was the taking back to France the ashes of Private David Stewart Burnett the last of the 16th Glasgow Boys Brigade Batallion.

Our work has also involved educational talks to local schools in Glasgow and advice to Great War plays and films such as 'The Big Picnic' and 'Roses of Picardy'...albeit the 'Big Picnic' producer never listened to us and produced a play full of crap on the same scale as 'Braveheart ' when it came to Scots history and historic detail.


We are currently applying for charitable status in Scotland and have the support of several prominent public figures from Scottish political life supporting us including a former Lord Provost of Glasgow and a former Member of Parliament and Scots MSP who had the honour of being described as 'the best man to enter Parliament with good intentions since Guy Fawkes'.

I apologise for the delay in thanking you for the reply. I'll be in touch. Antony