In 1933, the Brigade celebrated its Golden Jubilee and the Boys marched all the way from Broomhill to Queen’s Park, stopping en route to allow the then Captain, Mr Willie Muir, to take the reins of the horse he was to parade on. After the celebrations, the Company marched smartly back to the church for a party. Today’s boys, who are used to being run everywhere by car, must cringe at the very idea of such a ‘trek’.

One activity which proved popular at this time was the Concert Parties, when “Singing in the Rain” and “I’ve never harmed an onion, why does it make me cry” became popular hits in the district. Some of the “Minstrels” material described in the archives would certainly be politically in-correct nowadays but it was a source of great fun in those days.

One wonders how many companies can claim to have had a boy warned by the Police when rehearsing an item for the Company’s Annual Inspection. The Boy in question rode a Penny-farthing type of bicycle along Randolph Road to school to get the necessary practice on this unaccustomed mode of conveyance.

The difficulties which arose during the two world wars did not stop the work of the Company, though the period of 1939-1945 brought problems unknown during the First Word War. Evacuation halved the Company strength overnight. It must have been a curious experience to parade with gas masks and convoy escorts had to be arranged to get the Boys home during the black-out. The evacuated half of the Company was kept in touch by letters and many of these boys joined local companies. Those at home gained the new National Service Badge acting as A.R.P. Messengers and First Aid Post Orderlies and some of our members were on duty in Clydebank following the “Blitz” in 1941. Such was the spirit of the Company that Drill and Bible Class continued and the only Parade Night missed during the war was the second night of the Clydebank Blitz. Boys also carried out fire-watching duties to protect the church. Later the Company was to experience the difficulty of uniform rationing and the assistance of Ex-Members had to be sought to procure many of the articles of equipment. This time gave birth to a 130th legend when one of the Boys, Stanley Ewing, was trapped inside his bombed out house for several days. He managed to reach food through a hole in the wall and he kept his spirits up by learning Morse Code from his BB Handbook.

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