Aye Ready Rangers War Heroes by Paul Smith

Author:Paul Smith
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781845023713
Publisher: Black & White Publishing
Published: 2011-09-16T16:00:00+00:00

8

GLASGOW’S PARK LIFE

Just a brisk walk from Ibrox lies a hidden feature of Glasgow’s war past, but one that for thousands of servicemen and civilians became a key part of life in those turbulent times. Under the green grass and rolling lawns of Bellahouston Park lies the remains of the Scottish National Red Cross Hospital – or simply Bellahouston Hospital as it was known to the generation it served.

The complex stood where the Bellahouston sports centre can now be found and is a quirk of the era, standing just long enough to serve its purpose before being razed to the ground to make way for the development of the park in its current guise.

Its link to Rangers’ heartland stretched far beyond geography as the hospital was served by members of the Ibrox staff during the crucial period of the Great War as tens of thousands of casualties injured in action on the continent were methodically transported back to home soil to receive treatment and be helped through rehabilitation.

The Gers’ effort came from the very top of the club. Manager William Wilton and Bill Struth, then serving as trainer, both lent their experience and expertise to the Red Cross cause and swapped the traditional surroundings of Ibrox for the hastily constructed confines of the hospital.

Struth’s skills extended far beyond his primary interests in athletics and football. He was also a reputable physiotherapist and a dab hand at administering medical treatment to his players when required, making him an ideal candidate to lend his services to the huge effort that had been launched in Britain in response to the growing rate of returning stricken soldiers. A spot of minor surgery in the dressing room was not outwith the realms of possibility during the Struth era, with the multi-tasking team boss able to turn his hand to patching up his players and keeping them fit and ready for action.

When the war began he volunteered for service at Bellahouston Hospital and was welcomed with open arms by an organisation creaking and groaning under the weight of the demands being placed upon it. His physiotherapy skills and those as a sporting masseuse in particular came to the fore as the walking wounded were nursed and cajoled back to health. Many were able to return to active duty after their convalescence, some even made it back onto the football fields that Struth knew so well.

With his knowledge of sporting injuries adapted to cater for the servicemen who fell under his wing, Struth even opened the gymnasium at Ibrox to the injured troops and used the facilities and his knowledge to aid their recovery from the injuries suffered on the frontline. Those facilities may have been primitive by the modern standards of Murray Park, but for those who were ushered through the door at the ground to take another step back to health it was an opportunity to set about their work in one of the most prestigious addresses on Glasgow’s sporting map.

Ibrox was, after all, far

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