The Heart of Midlothian War Memorial located at Haymarket was paid for by the football club and the supporters. The Memorial remains, to date, as the site of the club's annual Remembrance Service. In 1914, eleven Hearts players enlisted in Sir George McCrae’s battalion and would go onto actively serve in World War One.
The 16th Royal Scots were in the worst of it. 'Edinburgh’s Finest', they called them – Scotland's 'Sporting Battalion' and the first of the so-called 'Footballers' battalions. But most folk knew them simply as 'McCrae's'. They were named after their charismatic founder, Lieutenant-Colonel Sir George McCrae, who stood on a recruiting platform on a chill November evening in 1914 and invited the young men of the city to join him. 'I cannot ask you to go', he told them, 'if I’m not prepared to share the danger at your side.' It was an unforgettable moment.
The sculpted monument, with its distinctive clock face and hand carved lion’s heads, was unveiled on the 9th of April 1922 before a solemn crowd of approximately 40,000 people. The impressive ceremony was conducted by Mr Robert Munro (1868 – 1955), Secretary of State for Scotland, and attended by many dignitaries who heard tributes paid to the members of the club who joined the 16th Battalion Royal Scots in 1914.
The Heart of Midlothian Memorial was designed by Sir Thomas Duncan Rhind KBE (1871 -1927) and sculpted by Mr. Henry Snell Gamely RSA. The monument was built by Messrs. John Angus & Sons whose works were on Duff Street near Tynecastle and the clock was designed and made by James Ritchie & Son (est.1809). The C Listed structure, in the heart of Haymarket, is dedicated to the memory of the club’s players, members and the people of Edinburgh who fell in the Great War and World War Two.
Now to the cache, the final of this multi cache is a short walk away from the war memorial. To obtain the coordinates, please observe the following.
On the four corner pillars of the war memorial, there is the names of battles.
Stand at the side of the memorial with the 1914-1919 Great War plaque (closest to Haymarket Station).
A = Number of letters in the battle on the bottom of the right hand corner
B = Number of letters in the battle second from the bottom of the right hand corner
C = Number of letters in the battle third from the bottom of the right hand corner
Stand at the side of the memorial with the 1939-1945 WW2 plaque (closest to Morrison Street)
D = Number of letters in the battle third from the bottom of the right hand corner
E = Number of letters in the battle fourth from the bottom of the left hand corner
F = Number of letters in the battle on the bottom of the left hand corner
N 55 56.(A-1)(B+5)C W 003 12.(D+1)(E+3)(F-3)
Checksum A+B+C+D+E+F=32
Please re-hide the cache as you have found it. You will need a pen/pencil to sign the log.
***** PLEASE NOTE IMPORTANT *****
CACHES ARE NOT ALLOWED TO BE PLACED ON ACTUAL MEMORIALS OR WITHIN THE BOUNDARY OF SUCH
AT ALL TIMES PLEASE TREAT LOCATIONS OF MEMORIALS WITH RESPECT