THE war had been over for less than seven years when this photograph was taken, and the Clydeside yards were extremely busy.

Since VE Day in 1945 the yards had launched no fewer than 50 ships for the P. and O. group of companies. "The value expended, including vessels not yet launched, is £40,250,000," reported the Glasgow Herald on January 16, 1952.

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The figures were issued by Sir William Currie, chairman of the British India Steam Navigation Company, at a dinner after the launch of the twin-screw passenger liner Uganda - the 65th ship to have been built by Barclay, Curle at its Whiteinch yard.

The 14,300-tonne Uganda, sister ship to the Kenya, which had been launched in December 1950, was 517ft long, 71ft broad and 35ft deep. Both vessels were designed to maintain the Britain-East Africa service via Suez.

It could carry 167 first-class passengers and 133 tourist-class passengers; each class had a nursery, a swimming pool and a dance-floor. It entered the Suez cana; for the first time on August 10 that year, en route for Mombasa, Kenya.

The Uganda enjoyed a long and distinguished record of service. According to the SS Uganda Trust website, it completed her final voyage in January 1967 then sailed to Hamburg for conversion to an educational cruise liner.

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Thirty years after its launch, however, it found itself with a new and unexpected role: it was one of many British-built vessels that were deployed during the Falklands War. The Uganda acted a hospital ship and, according to the Trust website, "the veteran liner and her crew gave exemplary service in the treatment of over 700 British and Argentinian casualties."

IN A speech in London in December 12, 1942, the US Secretary of State, George C Marsall, spoke enthusiastically of American people's desire to help a Britain shattered by war.

There was a "great surge of public opinion" in the States "to alleviate the sufferings of people on this side of the Atlantic ... there was in the US a remarkable evidence of a genuine and generous desire to help the other fellow." ,Marshall, of course, gave his name to the Marshall Plan, which aimed to rebuild the economies and spirits of western Europe,.

The Murray family, of Gretna Street, Glasgow, had many reasons to be grateful for American help. This 1947 photograph shows mum, dad and several of their 13 children examining the contents of a gift parcel sent by the Friends of Britain organisation, in Seattle.

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AN INTERESTING photograph from 1987, this, with an equally interesting story attached to it.

Mosspark, it turns out, was a "real Highland enclave", and Yaqub Yousuf, a local newsagent, used to be on the receiving end of gentle teasing by some of his customers, who would speak in their native tongue in front of him. Glasgow-born Yaqub, however, decided there was only one solution: to learn Gaelic. It seemed to be working, too. "My Gaelic-speaking customers," Yaqub said, "try to teach me a new word every day. Now I can carry on a reasonable conversation."