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Bo’ness Town Trust Association this week received a grant of £21,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to undertake an exciting project to remember the community’s sacrifice during the Second World War.

Without Fear Again – WW2 Stories related to the Bo’ness War Memorial aims to discover more about the 117 men named on the town’s war memorial who died on, or following, active service in Northern Europe, North Africa, the Far East and other theatres during World War Two.

Their bravery and sacrifice is currently commemorated on the memorial although, other than a name on a brass plate, very little is known about them.

The project intends to address this knowledge gap and will involve local people of all generations in shining a new light on their individual sacrifices.

Thanks to a £21,000 grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the association can start researching the next chapter of the story.

Family background, employment history, enlistment, service record and the circumstances of their death will be presented along with historical background information on the war and its local impact.

Additional information will also be gathered from the community and those with a family connection to the men.

The association has asked members Robert Jardine, Richard Hannah and Alan Gow to undertake the project on its behalf. They are all local amateur researchers who have a special interest in the Bo’ness area.

Robert said: “Thanks to National Lottery players, we are once again very happy and extremely grateful to have received this support to undertake this new project.

The first chapter of this story focused on World War One heroes.

“This project will be different as many of the sources of information are not available online. We will be appealing to families, friends or acquaintances of the casualties to help us record stories, facts and memories by digging out any surviving items relating to each individual.

“In particular we hope to see photographs, medals, memorial scrolls, service records and birth, death and marriage certificates. The information will help the local community better understand that these were ordinary townsfolk that went through extraordinary circumstances to ensure our current freedoms.

“It will also serve as a timely reminder of the lasting human costs of war.”

The project is a follow-up to the successful WW1 Without Fear project undertaken by the association, also funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

It will enable the people of Bo’ness to come together to preserve the memories of the people who were affected by World War Two.

The results of the research will be published in an illustrated book and there will be an accompanying website. These will be made available to local schools, libraries, museums, voluntary organisations and will also be accessible to the general public, locally and further afield.

If you have information that could help, contact Bo’ness War Memorial Facebook group or X/Twitter account @bwmwithoutfear.

A new chapter of Without Fear thanks to £21,000 lottery funding