A research project into Fairlie soldiers who fought in the First World War was unveiled this week - leading to a surprise discovery during the presentation.

At the start of a Largs Family History lecture, a slide to illustrate a discharge paper of a serving soldier from the Great War was displayed on the projector screen.

Arthur Davis, 82, of Largs, sitting in the front row, interrupted to say: “Gosh, that’s my dad!’ Alfred Davis” — leading to astonishment in Largs Library.

The event was organised by Largs and North Ayrshire Family History Society.

It was only minutes into the presentation that details about Alfred’s papers emerged, showing he was a butler, with a home address of Cheshire.

It was a great surprise for the researchers, including Elaine Campbell, chair of the Fairlie Community Association, who is helping put a booklet and exhibition together about the role of Fairlie folk in the First World War.

A stunned Arthur said: “I couldn’t believe it when my father’s name flashed up on the screen! I was really taken aback.

“He was a sergeant major in the war, and in the Royal Scots Fusiliers.

“When he came back from the war, the wages he was getting as a butler were so low he had to go into something else.

“He had got wounded and said he would never drive a bus again.” However, the lure of business proved too much, and Alfred did indeed return to the buses, and drove for a number of companies, before finishing up as a bus inspector for LMS - London, Midland and Scottish railways - who had an office at Largs Pier.

“It was really surprising to see my father get mentioned at the family history society event. I have a photo of him standing outside the Kelburn castle door in his uniform, with one of his other brothers who worked there with him.

“He stayed with my mother in the lodge on the Fairlie shore, which is next to the railway. He went on to have nine of a family, but there are only four of us left now, two boys and two girls.

“His father, and my grandfather, also played a part in the consequences of the First World War. He was older and, therefore, exempt, but his knowledge as a ganger on the railways took him to France, where they needed him to help put the railway back together again after the hostilities.” Elaine said: “Alfred was born in Staffordshire in 1890. The extract said he was a retired bus inspector.

He married on 15 December 1914 in Largs, and was a sergeant in the Scots Guards Fusiliers, and I have an extract from the Largs and Millport News of 5 December 1914, stating he had joined the army that week. It was 1 December that he entered the ‘theatre of war’ according to the Largs News, and, in July 1915 in France, he was wounded in action on 26 December 1915. He was gassed on 27 October 1918, but survived. The armistice was at the beginning of November 1918, so he was gassed at the right at the end of the hostilities.

“The reason why we put up Alfred’s discharge paper was to use an example of the difficulty involved in researching some of the soldiers, as on the initial page, it stated he was from Cheshire, which is where his father lived. We had to search through the papers, and it wasn’t until page 7 we found the Fairlie connection. It said his previous employer was the Earl of Glasgow, and he had been a butler, and stayed at Whittlieburn Cottage.

“We had the name and we had to search through ancestry records online, and check everyone called ‘Alfred Davis’. It was sometimes quite frustrating. It felt like you were searching for a needle in a haystack at times, but we got there in the end - and now we have met Alfred’s son!

“We found out that Alfred was demobbed, and it was actually his parents’ address which was used on the front of the discharge paper.” As well as studying the Largs News archive, Elaine and her team of volunteers spoke to Sarah Goldie at Largs Museum, and accessed historic war records, spending Wednesday afternoons carrying out extensive research in Fairlie Village Hall.

In addition, Fairlie Primary School have been researching the war memorial, and the village Scouts are going to plan a big map of Fairlie from 1912, round about the time of the war. They plan to photograph the houses which still exist where soldiers lived in the village.

The overall project, which gained funding from Awards for All, was the brainchild of Fairlie resident John Riddell to educate and inform the public about the history of the village.