Pupils from Primaries 5-7 had a fascinating interactive talk from Stephen Grant, a Children’s Worker from Hope Hall Church, Bridge of Weir this morning. The talk was based on a WW1 stretcher bearer – Willam Coltman, whose grandson is a friend of Stephens. He talked to the children about William Coltman’s upbringing and how his strong Christian beliefs and faith helped him choose to join in with the war effort in 1914 as a medic to help his fellow man.


The pupils were shown video footage about life in the trenches and no-man’s land, smelt samples of what trench foot and mustard gas may have smelt like and looked at other artefacts based on life during the war. Mr Coltman was the most decorated soldier in the great war for his bravery in the field and the children enjoyed hearing about all of his awards and his many acts of bravery. They found hearing about a ‘real’ person, helped them understand more about the war and how many lives were affected. Our thanks to Stephen Grant as the children are enthused and inspired to do their own research about how world war one affected Bute.