IN another age, they might have been packing their kitbags and marching off to fight in the mud and blood of the First World War.

Instead, a group of 100 young Scottish artists, many still in their teens, have taken inspiration from the real-life stories of those who lived, worked, fought to the death and, for the lucky ones, survived its years of turmoil.

The result, a poignant art installation that spotlights 100 wartime stories – some less well-known than others – is now set to be unveiled, concluding Scotland’s national commemorations to mark the centenary of the end of the war. 

Their work brings a new generation’s perspective to a century-old conflict and combines traditional printmaking, which would have been familiar to those living in 1919, with innovative technologies, such as augmented reality, to help bring the stories to life in a modern world.

READ MORE: Hebridean island community of Islay commemorate WWI SS Tuscania tragedy

As part of the project, students from across the country were each given a war-related story for inspiration, before working on individual artworks at five print studios in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness. 

The Herald:

The work of artists will be displayed at Holyrood.

As well as deeply human and personal tragedies, some of the stories depicted in the finished prints reflect the impact the conflict had on Scotland’s industrial and employment landscape with the construction of ships on the Clyde and manufacture of clothes designed to withstand the hardships of the trenches.

One print, created by illustrator and printmaker Mhairi Braden, an Edinburgh College of Art graduate, focuses on the work carried out by the North British Company in Edinburgh, where more than 4,000 workers set to work 24 hours a day to meet the demand for durable, rubber-soled boots for the trenches.  

By the end of the war, they had produced 1,185,036 pairs of wellington boots to keep trench foot at bay. 
Other prints reflect on tragedies of the time, such as the horror of the Quintinshill rail disaster, which saw 216 soldiers of all ranks perish when trains collided 
near Gretna. 

City of Glasgow College student Shona Wardrop’s print, created at Glasgow Print Workshop in Townhead, pays tribute to Emily Miller, appointed as Scotland’s first policewoman – although known then as “lady assistant” – in 1915.

READ MORE: Orkney services at Scapa Flow for German fleet​

Attached to the Criminal Investigation Office, she had a specific brief to take statements from women and children in cases of sexual assault and abuse, an area in which she developed highly specialist skills. 

Sarah Stewart, of Glasgow Print Workshop, where 20 students from City of Glasgow College created their prints, said: “It was impressive to see how involved the students were in researching the stories they had been given, and how they chose to represent them. It has reminded us all of the war and brought to light some stories that many of us had not heard before.”

The Herald:

The prints include one by student Robert Grouchy, which reflects on how a fleet of Clyde paddle steamers was propelled into duty in February 1915 to help boost the British fleet. 

Often armed with just one gun and vulnerable to enemy fire and the weather, the paddle steamers – built at John Brown’s in Clydebank, Fairfield’s in Govan, Harland and Wolff in Glasgow and Denny’s in Dumbarton – became troop carriers, hospital ships or mine-clearing vessels.

READ MORE: Sir David Henderson, the 'forgotten father' of the RAF is recognised at last​

Over the course of the war, the steamers would transport thousands of troops as part of the war effort. 

Another print reflects the deep loss endured by families, such as the lifelong grief of a mother left to mourn her son. Archie Dickson, of Edinburgh, was just 16 when he went down with the HMS Queen Mary and 1,200 other men on board, while his brother, Robert, 18, weathered the battle aboard the HMS Benbow. 

For 40 years, until she was no longer able, their mother Kathleen visited the shoreline at Rosyth on the anniversary of the battle and placed a wreath in the Firth in memory of her son. 

Edinburgh Printmaker artist Felix Charlton, whose print depicts the wreath, said: “The story demonstrates how the terrible memories of the war never left the people of Scotland, with the lives of thousands of women just like Kathleen changed forever as they were plunged into mourning for their sons.”

Students as young as 14 contributed to the project. The exhibition, entitled What Do We Learn From All This? opens at the Scottish Parliament today, where it will be on display until September 20. 

Ken Macintosh, the Parliament’s Presiding Officer, said: “It is worth remembering so many of the Scots who lost their lives a century ago were the same age as the artists contributing to a wonderful installation that explores and retells their stories.”