This free public talk is a joint event between the Abertay Historical Society and the Dundee Orleans Twinning Association.

The connection between our two cities since three Free French Navy Submarines sailed up the Tay in June 1940 is well known. But soldiers from Dundee had left to fight and die in French fields during the Great War (1914-1918). Come and listen to the history of those first connections as presented by Debbie Coupland, a battlefield guide with strong family links to this city.

Dundee and Orleans have been officially twinned since 1946 as a result of the help Dundee gave by supplying tarpaulins to cover the roofs of the bombed buildings in Orleans. This talk is one of the events arranged by the Dundee Twinning Association to increase interest and knowledge of all things French. More information can be obtained by emailing the secretary Carol Divitt at the.divitts@gmail.com

Debbie Coupland is an ex-army officer who was introduced to the Great War by her Dundee grandfather, who remembered watching the 4th Black Watch march through the city in May 1915 on their way to the front. She later did a degree in History as a mature student and then organised and led tours of WW1 Battlefields. She has just spent 10 months in Australia researching war memorials for a forthcoming book.