Scottish National War Memorial, Edinburgh
Address
Scottish National War Memorial, Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh EH1 2YTRecommended by
Highlight
The RAF Memorial windowArtist, maker and date
Douglas Strachan, 1927Reason for highlighting
An extraordinary tour-de-force of extremely moving, modern, and historically detailed art. The details in every window reflect every style of warfare machinery, horror and grief that was known after the Great War. The RAF had been formed during WW1, and Strachan paints zeppelins and biplanes as well as tanks, submarines, trenches, uniforms, and all aspects of home-front life as it was at the time. My grandfather fought in the trenches throughout WW1 in the Highland Light Infantry, and my father fought in the RAF, in Bomber Command during WW2. The choice of this building and this window is very personal.
Artist/maker notes
Robert Douglas Strachan (1875-1950) was born in Aberdeen and initially trained as an artist. Indeed Strachan admitted later in life that he had been slow to realise that stained glass would be the best outlet for his artistic vision. It was a vision that enable him to become the foremost British stained glass artist of the generation after Christopher Whall. From 1909 to 1911 he was head of the Crafts Section at the recently founded Edinburgh College of Art, before handing over to his brother, Alexander, due to pressure of work. His windows are found throughout Scotland and England, and are recognisable for their bold use of colour, and strong sculptural design and use of lead. Overseas he is renowned for his windows at the Peace Palace in The Hague, The Netherlands.
Sources:
In Praise of Douglas Strachan by Peter Cormack, Journal of Stained Glass, Vol. XXX, 2006
Arts & Crafts Stained Glass by Peter Cormack (Yale University Press for The Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, 2015)
ECA Glass Alumni Exhibition Catalogue, pages 11-12
Other comments
An excellent selection of photos of the windows is available on the Scottish National War Memorial website