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| Denis McCormick and Terry McCourt with the plaques in front of The Glasgow School of Art WWI Roll of Honour |
Victoria Cross Memorial Unveiled at Glasgow Central
A memorial dedication to Glasgow’s Victoria Cross recipients, including the GSA’s Captain Eugene Bourdon, will take place at Glasgow Central Station today, on 8th May, the official commemorative date of Victory in Europe 77 years ago.
A key figure in the project has been The Glasgow School of Art Janitor Terry McCourt, a Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association (SSAFA) Glasgow fundraising volunteer. As secretary of the West of Scotland Parachute Regimental Association, Terry has gathered his troops to thousands of pounds at Glasgow Central Station to fund the new memorial, a tribute to soldiers awarded The Victoria Cross, the highest military decoration available to members of the British Armed Forces, awarded for valour.
The new plaques for the 164 Scottish Victoria Cross recipients will be added to the existing War Memorial wall at Platform 1 in Central Station Glasgow.
The Glasgow School of Art (GSA) has sponsored two of the plaques one for Captain Eugène Bourdon, the GSA’s first Professor of Architectural Design who was killed in France at the Battle of the Somme in 1916 , and a plaque for the 16th Battalion (Glasgow) Highland Light Infantry, The Boys Brigade Battalion.
At the outbreak of the First World War, Bourdon, who had previously served with the French Army Reserve, secured leave of absence from The Glasgow School of Art and joined up as a regular soldier rising to the rank of Staff Captain. His brave actions earned him a number of citations including the awarding of the Croix de la Legion d’Honneur but on the evening of 1 July 1916, the first day of the Somme offensive, Bourdon was tragically killed. He has no known grave.
Director of GSA Professor Penny Macbeth said:
“We at The Glasgow School of Art remember Eugène Bourdon, recognising him today along with soldiers of the 16th Battalion (Glasgow) Highland Light Infantry, The Boys Brigade Battalion, many of whom were connected to The Glasgow School of Art, who died in battle and whose colours – carried into the Battle of the Somme – were made in the School, and are also remembered in this memorial wall.”
At 9am there will be a short service conducted by the Railways Chaplin and the Veterans Padre, including the unveiling of a 1914 “Christmas” Truce Bench by Mr Jimmy Docherty, ex Royal Navy and railway worker of over thirty years. The service concludes with the unveiling of all the plaques on Platform 1.
Cutting the ribbon to open the wall on Platform 1 will be Mr Andrew McFarlane representing the City, and the Deputy Lord Dean of Guild from the Trades House of Glasgow and Lieutenant General (Retired) Sir Andrew Gregory, Controller of SSAFA – Forces Help.
About Eugène Bourdon
Born in Paris on 16 July 1870, Bourdon studied at the École des beauxarts in Paris as a pupil of the Atelier Honoré Daumet and it was here that he gained the knowledge and experience that would shape his later career as an architectural educationalist.
After graduating in 1896, Bourdon worked for a time at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1900 as an inspector for the French Government before moving to New York where it is likely that he worked on one of the city’s earliest skyscraper buildings.
Returning to Paris, Bourdon was subsequently interviewed by Adolphe Giraldon, The Glasgow School of Art’s newly appointed Professor of Design about whether he would consider writing a report on the current situation of architectural training in Glasgow. Bourdon agreed and having visited Glasgow early in 1904, a report (in part, recommending the appointment of a beaux-arts trained Professor to lead the School’s newly created Department of Architectural Design) was compiled and presented to The Glasgow School of Art. Impressed by his credentials, the School approached Bourdon to see whether he would be interested in taking up the post himself and he accepted.
Over the next decade, Bourdon helped establish the Department of Architecture as one of the most important programmes at The Glasgow School of Art, recognising the merits of past traditions of classicism and the beaux-arts with the needs and demands of a modern world. Bourdon himself wrote that “the architect must have a complete training as a practical builder and as a man of business he must be a man of education, in a word, he must be a professional”.
At the outbreak of the First World War, Bourdon who had previously served with the French Army Reserve, secured leave of absence from The Glasgow School of Art and joined up as a regular soldier rising to the rank of Staff Captain. His brave actions earned him a number of citations including the awarding of the Croix de la Legion d’Honneur but on the evening of 1 July 1916, the first day of the Somme offensive, Bourdon was tragically killed. He has no known grave.
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For more information contact
marketing@gsa.ac.uk