The graves of Private (Pte) James McNeilage McLean, age 24 and Lance Corporal (LCpl) Brunton Smith, age 35, who were killed at different stages of the First World War in Northern France, have been rededicated more than a hundred years after they died. Both men served with regiments that are now antecedent to The Royal Regiment of Scotland.
Submitting.
The public is being urged to take a photograph of their memorial and send it to the HMS Hood Association on the day of the anniversary of the tragedy.
Efforts are also being made to increase the available information concerning each crewman, with the aim of sourcing images of the 411 victims whose photos are missing.
Launched from John Brown shipyard in Clydebank in 1918 and later fitted out at Rosyth, HMS Hood was the prize battlecruiser of the Royal Navy, and revered as the world’s most powerful warship until her sinking, earning her the moniker “The Mighty Hood”.
As famous as any ship of her era, no British military vessel would surpass HMS Hood in size until the launch of the HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier in 2014.