The names of the young Dundee men who lost their lives during the Battle of Loos will live forever in the minds of Scots thanks to a new history project.
Hundreds from the city and surrounding area died during one of the bloodiest conflicts of the First World War. Researchers have been working to identify every man, sourcing pictures, chronicling their histories and pinpointing where they lived.
That information has been used by the creative minds within Abertay University’s renowned games laboratories to create a resource that ensures future generations understand the horrific sacrifice Dundee made.
It will offer a computerised view of the battlefield, detailing what took place before the images become engulfed in the fog of explosions. When that clears, focus shifts to an interactive map of Dundee, littered with tiny red dots.
Each represents a life lost and will link to biographical details of each soldier.
The number clustered in the city’s Lochee area will offer some insight into the loss suffered by individual neighbourhoods and even businesses, with the Post Office among those to see workers join-up and then die en masse.
The project is one of the key elements of the national commemoration Dundee will lead later this month to mark 100 years since the Battle of Loos.
The hellish combat that played out over almost three weeks saw the flower of the city’s youth cut down as an estimated 30,000 British soldiers fought, about half of them Scots.
Around 7,000 died during the battle, with its first day’s combat a benchmark for the horrors visited upon combatants.
Veterans of The Black Watch will begin the commemorations, lighting a beacon at Dundee’s War Memorial, on the summit of the Law, at 6.30am on Friday September 25, to mark the moment the battle began a century ago.
Hundreds of veterans and serving members of the armed forces will then parade to City Square the following day for a service that will be attended by more than 1,000 people.
Lord Provost Bob Duncan said Dundee was “honoured” to be hosting the national commemorations.
“So many Dundee sons were lost in this battle that it is something very close to the hearts of all in the city,” he said.
The visualisation project, which has been created by Great War Dundee in conjunction with Abertay and Dundee universities, will be unveiled for the first time on September 25.
Historian Dr William Kenefick, who is chairman of the Great War Dundee Project and a senior lecturer at Dundee University, said it had been a huge undertaking.The Battle of Loos national commemorations will include: A major event in the Caird Hall on the evening of Friday September 25 entitled “Remembering Loos”, which willfeature poetry, readings, songs and orchestral music and appearances from Lorraine Kelly, pictured, SheenaWellington and Dundee Symphony Orchestra, among others. A commemorative service inDundee City Square on Saturday 26, at noon. The launch of “The Wreck of the Argyll” by John Fulton, winner of the Great War Dundee Children’s Book Prize. An exhibition of work produced by Morgan Academy and St John’s RC High School about the First World War and its impact on Dundee at the Marryat Hall. A screening of the film “The Guns of Loos” at Dundee Contemporary Arts on Saturday September 26 with a specially commissioned live musical score. A Black Watch commemorationservice on Sunday September 27 at Dundee Parish Church (St Mary’s), at 11am.