A Scottish regiment’s museum is issuing a call to former soldiers from Dumbarton and the Vale to share their documents and memories in a project to save them for future posterity.

The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders’ Museum at Stirling Castle, alongside the regimental association, have plans to create a unique “living history” archive, where veterans and their families who served in the regiment since the Korean War can capture life with the battalion through oral and video history pieces.

The museum is preparing for a major transformation as it prepares ‘a new kind of museum for Scottish military heritage’ and are asking for volunteers to support the project by sharing the letters, memories and artefacts collected while with the Argylls.

Rob Layden, chief executive of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Museum said: “One of the purposes of the object is to understand what is out there, what heritage exists within the community that can be used to tell the Argylls’ story, we want to record, give advice, and with the appropriate permission use them to tell the regiment’s story both at Stirling Castle and in and around Dumbarton and the Vale and the surrounding areas.

“It’s about getting heritage back into the community. Part of HLF funding is about community and people as, heritage, community and people. We want a better understanding of what resources are out there.

“We also want to collaborate with local community groups, by providing additional material, plus help and advice on conservation, both in general and in relation to specific exhibitions. We have a good record in this area, for example working with Helensburgh Heritage to organise exhibitions in the local library there.”

The new museum is set to open in 2019 following a £4m investment to commemorate the history of the regiment, which fought in the Korean War, two World Wars, and as far back as the Battle of Balaklava in the Crimean War.

Jim Tilly, Secretary of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Regimental Association added;

“We have a superlative collection here at the museum but there are gaps. We want the whole story to be told. For example we don’t yet fully cover episodes like the peace keeping operation in Northern Ireland, the regiment’s longest engagement, which lasted the 1960s to the 2000s.”

“There’s a lot of information and stories out there, not just with former soldiers but with their friends and families. We would like to have more interaction with the public so we have that up to date material in the museum. We’d love them to share it with us so we can put it all out there.”

To share any documents or photos with the museum, simply email museum@argylls.co.uk or dial 01786 475165 for more information.