WEST Dunbartonshire Council has received funding of £8,100 to research the names on the Dumbarton, Cardross and Bowling War Memorials to commemorate their lives and tell the story of what life was like during World War One.

The council received the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) First World War: Then and Now grant to tell what life was like for people on the frontline and at home.

From Living Memory to Memorial: Dumbarton’s WWI Stories will enable them to work with volunteers to research, record and share the stories of the men and women who left Dunbartonshire to fight in the Great War.

The local authority hope to be able to work with people who have a personal connection to the War Memorials, to share their family stories.

Where there is a connection with a name, or names, on a Memorial, volunteers will collect photographs, letters and documents, telling the stories of our communities and the impact that WWI had on their lives.

The Council is now keen to hear from residents who would like to assist with the project by donating historic photographs, newspaper clippings, documents and letters from the time.

These will complement the unique collection of documents, photographs and artefacts relating to WWI including the Minute Books and Muster Rolls for the 1/9th Battalion of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders held by the Council’s Heritage team.

Over the next few months the team will be advertising opportunities for members of the local community to become involved in the project, which will culminate with an exhibition in Dumbarton Library Heritage Centre, to run from June to November 2018.

Robert Layden, chief executive of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Museum Trust, said: “I would like to register the support of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Museum for the project being proposed by Dumbarton Library Heritage Centre. This continues a long relationship with the Museum and Library Service in Dumbarton, and it is a partnership which we value highly.”

Harry Summers, representative of the Vale of Leven History website, said: “As one of the founders of and contributor to the Vale of Leven history website I am delighted to learn of the project which the council is leading to fill in the details of those whose names appear on the First World War Memorials in Dumbarton, Cardross and Bowling. This is a duty which we owe to the men and women who served and suffered during that war. It is perhaps a very small contribution to honouring their memory in comparison with what they themselves went through, but a necessary one.”

Bailie Denis Agnew, convener of communications, museums and cultural development said: “We are delighted to have received the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund for this valuable local heritage initiative. This project allows us to gather together unique personal information on those who fought in World War 1 and sadly in many cases gave their lives for their country. This project will remember them in a personal way and commemorates their lives and sacrifice.”