Events at The Black Watch

Military Biography – The Generation that fought two World Wars

In her masterly biography, Wavell: Soldier & Statesman, Victoria Schofield brings to life one of the towering figures of WW2 and, in the process, illuminates many of the obscure pages of the history of the period. Victoria’s interest in military history was heavily influenced by her father, Vice Admiral Brian Schofield. Victoria is author of the two-volume history of The Black Watch, The Highland Furies and the award winning The Black Watch: Fighting on the Front Line. She has recently edited her father’s memoirs With the Royal Navy in War and Peace: O’er the Dark Blue Sea.

In conversation with Lt Gen Sir Alistair Irwin, Victoria will discuss the extraordinary careers of Field Marshal Wavell and Admiral Schofield. As late Victorians, the era of their birth dictated their lives, both seeing active service in two world wars, with Wavell rising to supreme command in both the Middle East and India.

Did you know parachuting pigeons helped win the First World War? This and other fascinating facts are woven into the story of a young laddie from Dalkeith, James Marchbank, who served in the Royal Scots during the Great War. This book, lovingly illustrated by Darren Gates, places the reader in 14-year-old James’s boots as he marches off to war. Gill Arbuthnott will talk about James’ story which is told in an easy and engaging manner. Gill will explore with the children the mix of real experiences and facts that offer an insight and explanation into a terrible moment in Scottish history. The book entertains with facts, puzzles and humour.

Following this session children are invited to visit the WW1 gallery and discover the type of kit James would have used. They can then step back in time as they enter the replica WW1 trench and meet old soldier Private McNiven to learn all about life on the front line.

Pipe Major Robert Roy is a legendary figure in The Black Watch. In November 1941, during the battle for the relief of the Tobruk Garrison, he “displayed the most exceptional and outstanding gallantry and devotion to duty” for which he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal. Months earlier, he had been involved in the defence of Crete, escaped from a POW camp and made his way to Syria to re-join his battalion. Post-war, Robert Roy continued to live a remarkable life. Alice Soper will talk about her memoir of her father, which tells the story of a courageous and inspiring soldier who, in peacetime and in war, was not afraid to stand up for his convictions.

In February 1918 the troopship Tuscania was sunk by a German U-boat off Islay, causing the first major US military casualties of WW1. Eight months later HMS Otranto collided with another troopship, the losses were enormous. Men, dead and alive were washed ashore on Islay – war had come to the Hebrides.

Les Wilson and Lord Robertson of Port Ellen will discuss Les’s vivid and sympathetic account of how a small island community coped with both tragedies. In his moving preface to The Drowned and the Saved, which won the Saltire Society’s History Book of the Year Award, former Cabinet Minister and Secretary General of NATO, George Robertson writes of how his grandfather, the police sergeant on Islay in 1918, managed the unfolding events with none of the modern communications or emergency services we take for granted today.

The death of Robert the Bruce in 1329 gave opportunity for those with designs on the Scottish Crown. In 1332, funded by Edward III; Edward Balliol organised an invasion army that marched on Scone. At Dupplin Moor their passage was halted by a larger force but Balliol’s army was victorious. 312 years later, Tippermuir witnessed a Royalist army, under the Marquis of Montrose, rout a numerically-superior adversary. Balliol and Montrose’s military prowess stands in contrast to the Earl of Mar’s poor generalship at Sheriffmuir (1715).

Rob Hands will tell the story of these three Perthshire battles from both the historical and geographical point of view. Rob writes geography textbooks and has contributed to several books including Battleground Perthshire.

Jonathan Boff draws on extensive research in the German archives to offer a history of the First World War from the other side of the barbed wire. He revises conventional explanations of why the Germans lost with an in-depth analysis of the nature of command as modern warfare was born. Haig’s Enemy views the Great War through the eyes of one of Germany’s leading generals, Crown Prince Rupprecht, shedding new light on many of the controversies of the Western Front.

In conversation with Professor Sir Hew Strachan, one of the world’s foremost experts on the First World War, Jonathan will discuss the view of the Western Front as a highly dynamic battlespace, both physical and intellectual, where three armies struggled not only to out-fight, but also to out-think, their enemy. The consequences of falling behind in the race to adapt would be more terrible than could be imagined.

In his distinguished career as a broadcaster, journalist and military historian, Trevor Royle has written extensively. His books range from the Crimean War and the English Civil Wars to the two World Wars. He has written widely on the histories of the Scottish regiments and writes regular newspaper columns and television scripts on international affairs and matters of defence. Trevor is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. In his latest book, Facing the Bear, he explores the role of Scotland as a ‘frontline’ of the Cold War.

In conversation with historian and writer Allan Mallinson, Trevor will discuss how, with 10% of UK naval and air forces based in Scotland, occasionally things got very ‘hot’. They will look at both the military and political considerations for Scotland during the Cold War period.

“War should be so engaged in that nothing but peace should appear to be aimed at”, wrote Cicero. Yet after four years of fighting, and the ultimate defeat of the Quadruple Alliance, in 1919 Marshal Ferdinand Foch protested – with astonishing accuracy – that the Treaty of Versailles was “not a peace but a twenty-year armistice”.

Soldier, turned award-winning author, Allan Mallinson is a consummate military historian and newspaper commentator on matters of defence. Based on his World War One books, Allan will explore whether the Allies lost sight of what they were fighting for and, if so, why? Was the subsequent Paris Peace Conference a failure, a lost opportunity for a lasting peace? Why did Foch’s prediction prove to be so prescient? Has the relative peace in Europe since 1945 been in part due to the lessons learned from 1919 and the two decades that followed? In other words, how do the major wars of the last century measure up to Cicero’s view?

Allan Mallinson is also author of the Matthew Hervey novels based on the fictional 6th Light Dragoons in the early nineteenth century.

In a writing career of 30 years, Stuart Reid has produced popular military histories that span the mid-seventeenth to the early nineteenth century. A former soldier with a long military ancestry Stuart has written extensively on the Jacobite Risings. The Battle of Killiecrankie pitched Scot against Scot and saw the zenith of the Highland Charge. In his book, Stuart draws on detailed research to “challenge the myths and reveal the underlying truths” about a battle that was both a Jacobite victory and with the loss of one third of their men and Bonnie Dundee, the end of the 1689 rising.

In conversation with Dr Nicola Small, Stuart will discuss this most dramatic of Scottish battles 330 years on and how following Killiecrankie the struggle would continue for another two generations.

Military memoirs are often the most readable and interesting works in war literature. From Julius Caesar’s The Conquest of Gaul to Ollie Ollerton’s account of his time in the SAS, soldiers have written of their war experiences. In many cases, military memoirs and biographies remain unpublished; in most cases, unwritten. Yet they can provide valuable historical information and add to a popular literary genre.

In this workshop session, Black Watch Museum archivist Richard Hunter and publisher Dr Paul Philippou will explain how military archives can be used for biographical research and how military memoirs and biographies can be brought into print.

Paul Moorcraft has had a fascinating and varied career. He is best known for his experience in war zones, which led to work for the military as an instructor at both Sandhurst and the Staff College, international business, and both print and broadcast news. He has worked in frontline combat alongside Jihadists in places as varied as Afghanistan, Bosnia and Sudan. His recent book, The Jihadist Threat, was shortlisted for the British Army military book of the year. As a film producer, political commentator and Whitehall warrior, he has many stories to tell, which have resulted in the publication of over 30 books.

Paul will draw on his latest books on war reporting, Deadlines on the Front Line and Dying for the Truth: a History of Frontline Combat Reporting, to tell us some of the amusing and hair raising moments in danger zones he has experienced.

In 2010, the British Government named Jane Haining a ‘British Hero of the Holocaust’ for her efforts to protect Jewish schoolchildren in Hungary during World War 2. Inspired by her own work with children in arduous circumstances, Mary Miller has produced a powerful and tender account of this Scottish heroine, her devotion to pupils in her care and her death in Auschwitz. Mary’s book A Life of Love and Courage describes the days of sunshine and days of darkness.

Mary is in conversation with novelist Ajay Close author of A Petrol Scented Spring, based on a group of Scottish suffragettes imprisoned in Perth.

When General Franco with the support of Mussolini and Hitler attacked the Spanish Republic in 1936 there began a three-year civil war. Into that conflict came 40,000 International Brigade volunteers (549 from Scotland) in defence of democracy. Professor Willy Maley and Daniel Gray, in conversation with Dr Paul Philippou, author of Spanish Thermopylae will draw upon letters and personal accounts to tell of those Scots who fought in Spain.

Willy Maley is Professor of Renaissance Studies at Glasgow University and an award-winning dramatist. His play, From the Calton to Catalonia, is based on his father’s captivity as an International Brigades volunteer in a Spanish POW camp. As well as writing eight books, Daniel Gray has researched and written several documentaries. His account of Scotland’s role in Spain Homage to Caledonia was nominated for a Saltire Prize.

Bringing Scotland’s national World War One centenary programme to a close, What Do We Learn From All Th1s? is a unique new installation telling Scotland’s WW1 story from the perspective of 100 young artists from across the country.

Combining traditional printmaking with innovative technologies, the exhibition tells 100 stories gathered from all corners of Scotland. Each unique artwork will be mounted on wooden plinths arranged in a map of Scotland, with augmented reality technology allowing visitors to explore each story in detail with an iPad.

From the sacrifices made at the frontline to the vital effort on the home front, the installation takes in a diverse range of stories and subjects that will resonate throughout Scotland, providing an all-encompassing overview of the nation’s immeasurable contribution to the war.

Entry to this installation is free.

To celebrate the wonderful printed artworks created by the young artists from the WW100 exhibition ‘What Do We All Learn From This?’ we are hosting a series of children and family activities that explore different printing techniques encouraging families to have fun and learn together.

Be inspired by the autumn season as we use leaves of different shapes and sizes to create unique printed patterns. Feel free to bring along your own collection of leaves for printing.

All ages welcome | Family Drop in | £3 Suggested Donation