Arisaig and District Community Council

World War One in Arisaig

Arisaig, like everywhere else in the country, was marked by the First World War. Twenty two people from the area died in the war and over 100 were involved through military service, nursing or work in munitions production. At the end of the war a scrapbook entitled Arisaig and South Morar Record of Service 1914 – 1919 was compiled in 1920 by Barbara Nicholson, the sister of the estate owner, giving accounts of those who had served, postcards and photos from the front line and a report of the unveiling of the memorial. This unique document has provided the basis for an effort to identify those who took part and to trace their history after the war. A grant of £35,000 was received from the Heritage Lottery Fund in 2018 to enable improvements to be carried out to the path leading up to the memorial and to fund an exhibition and the installation of the record of service in the Land Sea and Islands Centre. This has been a joint project of the Arisaig and District Community Council and the Arisaig Community Trust with the support of the landowner Mr R. MacDonald. When the project is concluded all the individual records that have been uncovered will be available both on line and at the LSIC for public access.