On the 6th of November the Dreghorn War Memorial was unveiled in 1921. The site upon which the war memorial stands was gifted to the people of Dreghorn by Archibald Seton Montgomerie, 16th Earl of Eglinton. It is situated on the west side of “The Mount” at the east end of Main Street and is reached by a short, steep path. On a clear day, those visiting the war memorial are afforded with a panoramic view of the surrounding countryside and sea.
On Sunday 06 November 1921, the unveiling ceremony began with a service in the old Dreghorn and Springside Parish Church. So many people attended the service that they had to put additional seats in the passageways and when those were occupied, the rest of the attendees had to stand at the rear and the remaining spaces left in the passageways. Even though the church was packed to capacity, many more of Dreghorn’s parishioners had to listen to the service in the church grounds.
The centre of the church was reserved for ex-servicemen and the relatives of the fallen. Dreghorn’s ministers, Rev. Mr Jamieson, minister of the parish, Rev. William Kerr, Dreghorn United Free Church, and Rev. Mr MacRobert, minister of the Congregational Church all took part in the service, leading the songs of praise, prayer and reading relevant passages of scripture.
Following the service both those within the church and those waiting in the grounds, walked to ‘The Mount’ led by the Springside Pipe Band and the ex-servicemen for the unveiling ceremony.
The unveiling ceremony began with the singing of the 2nd Paraphrase “O God of Bethel!” After which Lieutenant-General Sir Aylmer Hunter-Weston addressed those gathered for the ceremony. The war memorial was then unveiled by Lady Hunter-Weston. The last post was sounded, followed by a prayer of dedication given by Rev. W. R. Kerr, minister of Dreghorn United Free Church, after which the Springside Pipe Band played “The Flowers of the Forest” while wreaths were laid at the foot of the war memorial. The ceremony was concluded with the hymn “Our God our help in ages past”.
The war memorial which takes the form of an obelisk, is made of granite and inscribed:
“This monument is erected to the glory of God and in memory of our unreturning brave, 1914-19. It contained the names of the 59 Dreghorn men who fell during the First World War.
1. James Andrew
2. Ernest Angelini
3. William Annall
4. Alexander M. Banks
5. William Barrie
6. Alexander Barrie
7. Robert Beattie
8. Francis Bell
9. Hugh Bell
10. Robert Bell
11. George Bowie
12. Thomas Bryden
13. John Calderwood
14. Robert Caldwell
15. George Donaldson
16. James Dunlop
17. William Ferguson
18. Thomas Fraser
19. James Fry
20. James Fulton
21. Peter Fulton
22. James Gibson
23. Robert Gibson
24. David Gourlay
25. James Grant
26. Hugh Haggarty
27. James Hood
28. James Houston
29. Adam Jones
30. Archibald Kenneth
31. Buchan Littlejohn
32. James Lyon
33. Matthew McKenna
34. William McLean
35. William McMillan
36. Thomas Maxwell
37. Thomas Miller
38. Robert Mitchell
39. James Muir
40. John Muir
41. John Haddow Muir
42. Joseph S. Orr
43. John Paterson
44. Thomas Pirrie
45. Thomas Rigg
46. Patrick Ritchie
47. John Dalziel Rollo
48. Hugh Samson
49. Robert Smith
50. Thomas Spence
51. J. Esslemont Steel
52. Robert B. Stewart
53. John Tait
54. James Templeton
55. Joseph Walker
56. Robert Walker
57. Robert G. Watson
58. Francis Watt
59. Andrew C. Wyllie