McPherson, Andrew
Andrew McPherson was born at 5 Wood Street, Dennistoun on 16th December 1917. Why his mother, Jean, was there is a mystery – as today, it is a block of tenement flats and the family’s usual address was 16 Gibson Street in the west end. On Andrew’s birth record, his father, also Andrew McPherson, is…
Read MoreMcKinlay, Francis
Sadly, we only know about three days in Francis McKinlay’s life – when he was born, the 1921 Census and the day he died. Acknowledging the Treehouse Genealogy website as the source of the photo (link) On 11th July 1916 he was born at 3 Kennyhill Gardens, Dennistoun. His father gave his name as Robert…
Read MorePlane crashes: Peter McDonald, Colin Guttridge, Robert Smith
Peter Gordon McDonald Peter Gordon McDonald was born on 26th November 1924 at 1065 Maryhill Road. Maryhill Road runs from top left to bottom right, red circle shows 1065. His father, Peter, was a glazier and had married Margaret Murdoch Breckenridge in Kilmarnock in 1915. His link to Bearsden is not certain but Mrs Margaret M…
Read MoreKirsop, Purves
Purves Alexander died at Dunkirk on 27th May 1940, just as the famous evacuation was starting. The German attack on France, Belgium and the Netherlands on 10th May was not unexpected but it was not appreciated how many troops had been committed to the front line by the French and British so that when the…
Read MoreWatson, William
William Sanderson Watson was born on 29th September 1909 at 7 Park Drive South, Whiteinch. His parents were Andrew Watson and Annie Williamson McCall, married in 1907; Andrew was a master cooper. Park Drive South is, of course, now known as Victoria Park Drive South. Number 7 has survived but with the area to the…
Read MoreMoir, Francis
Francis Gartly Moir was born on 30th January 1913 at 106 York Drive in Hillhead. This street name was changed to Novar Drive from around 1930. His father, Francis, was a commercial traveller and he had married Mary Eason Wright Walker in 1908. The family lived in the flat on Novar Drive until at least…
Read MoreMcKellar, Archibald
Usually preparing a profile involves a hunt to uncover material, but in this case it is to summarise it. If you type “Archie McKellar 1940” into Google you will find he was an RAF Squadron Leader in the Battle of Britain and claimed 21 German aircraft shot down, making him the second most successful RAF…
Read MoreThomlinson, John
Photo from Charterhouse School Archives, who retain all rights, please do not copy (link) In August 1940, John Thomlinson was a very new recruit in the Black Watch, having joined as a private in the last few months. He was 20 years old and had just passed exams at St Andrews University as part of his…
Read MoreGibbeson, John
In 1940, John Cecil Gibbeson was an engineering officer on a ship called the City of Benares: The ship had been built in 1936 at Whiteinch in Glasgow, by the Barclay and Curle shipyard: John had been born on 9th April 1910 in Seaton Carew, County Durham, son of John Thomas Gibbeson (a coachman from…
Read MoreEdwards, John
The photo is a cheat, my apologies – I don’t have one of John Edwards but it is (of course) an RAF crew from the Second World War and a striking group shot. The man on the left is Guy Gibson, the squadron leader famous for leading the Dambusters Raid in 1943 and these are…
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