SCHOOL pupils commemorating the Clydebank Blitz are searching for a survivor named Robert Cochrane.

Sixth years from Clydebank High School will travel to Kilbowie Cemetery to lay flowers and pay their respects at the grave of Wallace Cochrane, who was 17 months old when he was killed in Luftwaffe air raids.

History teacher Paul Hamilton, who is arranging the school's memorial at the 75th anniversary of the Blitz, believes Wallace's older brother Robert still lives in the town.

And he is hoping Robert might come forward to speak to pupils about his experience.

Paul said: "My guess is that Robert would be about 80 by now as he was four years old during the Blitz in 1941.

"It would be wonderful if he could come in to the school and speak to our young people about his experiences. We have some very keen young historians in Clydebank High School and they would be pleased to hear from him.

"But as well as that, we really want to let Robert know that we plan to lay flowers at his brother's grave and make him aware of the memorial and that Wallace is not forgotten."

Robert and his family were sheltering in a neighbour's house when the tenement block was hit by a parachute bomb.

The three-storey building came down on the family and they were trapped in the rubble for five-and-a-half hours before being rescued.

While the adults and Robert survived, Wallace was killed.

Paul added: "Apparently Wallace's body was lost and his father, who was home from the Navy on compassionate leave, went to round all the mortuaries and a local church to try and find him but he wasn't there.

"Mr Cochrane was told his son's body was in a transport to Old Dalnottar Cemetery to be buried with the unidentified bodies.

"At the last minute the hearse was stopped and they brought Wallace back to be buried in a plot at Kilbowie Cemetery."

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the German Luftwaffe raids on Clydebank on the nights of March 13 and 14, 1941.

Wallace was just one of scores of children who died in air raids that obliterated parts of the town.

Officially 528 people died - the youngest eight weeks old and the oldest 88 - while 617 were seriously injured.

However, the actual number may have been considerably higher as the remains of some victims were not found and not reported.

Out of 12,000 buildings, just seven were left undamaged and some 50,000 people were left homeless.

The John Brown Shipyard and Beardmore's Diesel Works were among the targets, but neither was seriously damaged.

Throughout the day on March 14, Clydebank High School will hold special assemblies for all pupils that will feature stories from the blitz, along with poetry readings, music and a final act of remembrance by pupils.

During the afternoon, Paul will take a group of Advanced Higher pupils to Kilbowie Cemetery where they will lay flowers and pay their respects at the grave of Wallace.

They will then travel to Old Dalnottar Cemetery to lay a wreath at the Clydebank Blitz Memorial on behalf of staff and pupils at Clydebank High.

Pupils have also been learning the story of John Bowman.

John had been given leave from the Army and, by coincidence, he arrived home from his base in Sussex the day after the air raids.

There, he found that his mother, two brothers and a younger sister had been killed and their tenement block obliterated.

Paul added: "John spent his leave arranging and attending funerals for his family. You can't even imagine what that would be like.

"It is important for young people to know the history of the place they come from.

"We find that some pupils will come to school already knowing stories they have heard from grandparents and other relatives who remember the Blitz and the devastation in the town.

"But there's a mixed response; quite often some don't realise the extent of it but they are always interested to learn.

"They realised this all happened to people just like them.

"I think on the day it will be quite emotional for everyone involved."