A service of remembrance will mark the courage and contribution of five boys killed on duty while acting as Glasgow Auxiliary Fire Service messengers during the Second World War.

 

On the nights of March 13 and 14, 1941, Clydeside shipyards and industrial sites were targeted by the Nazis in an intense aerial bombardment that claimed the lives of 528 civilians.

Explosions in densely-packed residential areas sparked intense fires that engulfed communities within the city and devastated the town of Clydebank.

Among the dead were five teenagers who had volunteered to perform a vital role in protecting people from the inferno.

Earlier this month the Evening Times spoke to the family of Neil Leitch, who will attend the service.

The ceremony will also honour William Campbell, Ronald Pacitti, David Woodhead and John Farrow who all operated on foot and by bicycle to relay information between frontline firefighters and controllers at the service headquarters.

A memorial service, organised by Glasgow's Lord Provost Sadie Docherty, will be held at Dalbeth Cemetery at 11am on Wednesday, May 20, where Area Manager George McGrandles, the local senior officer for Glasgow in the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, will lay a wreath commemorating the boys.

He said: "The role of the messengers isn't widely known but it was absolutely vital. By taking messages back and forth they ensured commanders could call on re-enforcements or redeploy crews even when communications channels were down.

"The five boys were volunteers who took on an incredibly dangerous role to help protect people.

"They lost their lives because they were working to save others. It was a crucial contribution and one that must be remembered."

Among those set to gather at the memorial are family members of Messenger Neil Leitch, who was aged just 15 when he was killed while taking orders to a crew battling one of the many blazes of the blitz.

King George VI gave Neil a posthumous commendation for his bravery, which saw him successfully deliver a message even after he sustained fatal injuries.

His nephew Jim Leitch - himself a former leading firefighter at Clydebank and Milngavie - said: "Neil suffered fatal burns when a bomb hit Partick Fire Station as he delivered a message from crews requesting assistance at a fire in Hyndland.

"Ambulance crews had already provided him with treatment twice that night after he was blown off his bike by earlier bombs, but he insisted on getting back to his duties and sadly arrived at the station as an oil bomb fell.

"Around 90 boys volunteered to help the war effort by serving as messengers with the Glasgow Auxiliary Fire Service and some of them will still be alive today.

"We would like them or any family members to come along and join us at the cemetery to remember their colleagues."