Rob Close & Gillian Hope (17:00 BST)

Named after their commanding officer, Boswell’s Galloping Farmers was the nickname given to the Ayrshire Yeomanry in the First World War, a volunteer cavalry regiment retrained as grenadier infantry. Sent to Gallipoli to fight the Turks in 1915, four yeomen give their own accounts of their involvement in the campaign.

Elsewhere in Southwest Scotland, John Hope and four friends joined the Seaforth Highlanders and set off for the Western Front. The Sanquhar Boys and the Seaforths unveils John’s diaries, chronicling their journey from enlistment in 1915 to the end of the war. Written in secret, these records bear witness to the unimaginable realities faced by these young soldiers. The sole survivor of the five pals, John kept these diaries hidden, sharing the truth of his experiences only towards the end of his life.

John’s granddaughter, Gillian Hope, and Rob Close, editor of Boswell’s Galloping Farmers, tell the story of these remarkable personal records.

In conversation with Peter Kennerley

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