First off, sorry for the delay since the last post but I’ve been busy writing profiles of Clydesdale Harriers who were in the armed services during the second world war. The photograph below is of Willie Howie who was in the Army and after serving in Egypt was taken prisoner and kept in a PoW camp in Germany. Then there was John Morgan who fought in the Burma campaign, Tommy Arthur who was in the Navy and James Little from Dalmuir, a sergeant pilot in the Air Force and possibly the first club member killed in active service in the war. Not as bloody a campaign as the first world war but a hard fought one with harriers playing a big part. Maybe more about that later.
Next up is the apparent lack of club members in open road races. There were none that I saw in the Balfron 10K today and certainly none in the Highland Fling yesterday. That one went from Milngavie to Tyndrum and followed the first half of the West Highland Way. I saw three ex-Clydesdale Harriers running at my final viewpoint which was halfway between Crianlarich and Tyndrum and I walked up and down the same bit of the track until 8:00 pm last night. One was a very good sprinter in the late 90’s, another an 800m runner in the early 2000’s and the third a field events athlete. Most surprising one was Mark Doris, ex-St Andrews HS and medal winning relay runner for the club and good quality all round sprinter who was covering the 53 miles of the race. Where are all the club seniors these days? Yesterday there were athletes from Maryhill, Garscube, Shettleston and many other clubs, but no Clydesdales.
