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Feature |
In
the event of my death . . .
Over the last two years, staff from curatorial,
conservation and IT branches of the National Archives of Scotland (NAS) have been
working on a special series of wills and testaments in the records of Edinburgh
Commissary Office. These are the testaments of Scottish servicemen who died between
1857 and 1966. Many of them were soldiers and airmen who gave their lives in two
world wars. This rich but almost unknown archive offers a fresh perspective on
the sacrifice of more than 30,000 ordinary Scots at war, ranging from the height
of the Raj to the end of the British Empire.
The testaments themselves
are formal documents, often quite short and hastily written, but many afford glimpses
of the men who left them, because they contain moving letters, poems and prayers.
Among
the 31,000 or so soldiers' wills dating from 1857 until the 1960s is the very
simple will of Private Robert Dunsire, 13 Battalion The Royal Scots, written on
5 July 1915 (SC70/8/192/17/2).
In his pay book he wrote the standard Army
formula for a short will: 'In the event of my death I give the whole of my property
and effects ...' to his wife in Denbeath, Methil, Fife.
On 26 September
1915 he earned the Victoria Cross for 'conspicuous bravery' in rescuing wounded
comrades under very heavy fire at the notorious Hill 70 during the Battle of Loos.
The wills series also includes the wills of five other Scots VC winners of the
First World War.
To search for the will of a soldier or airman use of research
guide on soldiers' and airmen's wills. It is advisable to
use the name and to restrict your search to the relevant wills
series by using the references SC70/8 for soldiers or SC70/10
for RAF personnel. Sometimes there is more than one will, usually
to be found under the same reference, but sometimes under two
references.
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