WORKS by two Glasgow-based artists feature in a new collection created to mark the heroic deeds of civilians during the Blitz and wider Second World War.
Family history website Ancestry worked with 33 artists around the UK, including Greg McIndoe and Katie Smith, to create works depicting 80 untold stories.
Available to view on Ancestry.co.uk/Blitz80, the works are based on real-life stories discovered in wartime records available on Ancestry. The collection was inspired by the War Artists Advisory Committee which was established to create a record of the conflict. The original records are held at the National Archives in Kew.
Katie Smith’s contribution to the new collection portrays Sergeant John Macleod, from Clydebank Police Station, who rescued five children from houses destroyed during the air raids.
McIndoe depicts 15-year-old messenger, Neil Leitch, who was blown off his bike by a bomb in 1941 yet continues on with his work.
Dr William Butler, head of military records at the National Archives, said: “The Civilian Gallantry Award records are a treasure trove of stories, highlighting the incredible and often dangerous work carried out by people serving as air-raid wardens, first aiders, firewatchers and messengers.”
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