Buckie & District War Memorial

The Client

The Buckie & District Fishing Heritage Centre commissioned this website to bring the town's physical war memorial into the digital age. The memorial, which stands in Cluny Square, Buckie, was first unveiled in April 1925 and later expanded in November 1953 to include those who fell in the Second World War.

Lead researcher David Fowler spent years compiling detailed service records, photographs and biographical information for every name on the memorial. The Heritage Centre's board unanimously agreed to commission a dedicated website to make this invaluable research accessible to families, historians and the wider public.

The Challenge

This wasn't a typical business website. The challenge was to create a respectful, dignified digital memorial that could house 362 individual service profiles, each with up to 14 data fields including rank, regiment, service number, date of death, cemetery details and biographical notes, while remaining easy to search and navigate.

• A searchable database of all 362 names with filtering by war and alphabetical sorting
• Individual profile pages for every fallen serviceman and woman
• High-resolution photography of all four bronze memorial panels with interactive zoom
• Scanned historical documents from the original 1925 and 1953 unveiling ceremonies
• A way for families to contribute photographs, letters and additional research
• A solemn, respectful design befitting the subject matter
• Accessible to all ages and technical abilities

The Solution

I built a bespoke website from scratch that treats every name on the memorial with the respect it deserves. Each of the 362 fallen has their own dedicated page containing their service record, photograph (where available: 97% have one), and biographical details researched by David Fowler.

The search lets visitors find anyone by name, rank, regiment, ship, service number or village, filter by war or by memorial panel, and sort by surname, date of death or age. Results show as photo cards or a list, each linking straight to that person’s record.

• Custom design with a solemn, respectful tone throughout
• Searchable database with filters by war and memorial panel, sorting and an A to Z
• 362 individual profile pages with up to 14 data fields each
• High-resolution panel photographs that open full screen and zoom in to read each name
• A “Remembered this week” section on the homepage, showing those who died around the current date
• Links from each record to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s records for further research
• Scanned original ceremony leaflets from 1925 and 1953
• Community contribution system inviting families to share photographs and memories
• Fully responsive design accessible on all devices
• Schema markup and SEO for discoverability by family researchers worldwide

“Chris has done a fantastic job bringing the Buckie War Memorial project to life online. The website is beautifully designed, easy to navigate and provides a fitting tribute to those who served and sacrificed their lives. It has been a pleasure working with Chris to make years of historical research accessible to everyone. I’m delighted with the finished result.”

David Fowler, Buckie & District War Memorial

The outcome

The website has transformed years of painstaking research into a living, searchable memorial accessible to families and historians around the world. With 362 individual profiles, 97% photo coverage, and interactive panel photography, it brings the physical memorial in Cluny Square to anyone with an internet connection.

The community contribution feature ensures the archive continues to grow as families come forward with photographs, letters and memories. It stands as a lasting digital tribute to the men and women of Buckie and district who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Screens from the site