How letters of support linked the women of Airdrie and Leningrad

It was a wartime gesture of support that travelled from Lanarkshire to an under-siege Leningrad, and then back again. Now two collections of World War Two letters linking Scotland and Russia are to go on display in Airdrie. The unlikely connection dates back to the autumn of 1941 when volunteers from the Airdrie branch of the Russia Today Society decided to collect and send messages of support to women in Leningrad. In just two weeks they gathered thousands of signatures and messages of support and collated then in a bound volume, which became known as the Scottish Album. Incredibly, the book not only reached the Soviet city - but one was sent back in return. The blockade of Leningrad - now known as St Petersburg - by Nazi Germany began in 1941 and lasted until 1944, lasting just under 900 days. At least 800,000 people are estimated to have died during the siege. Locals suffered extreme hunger and faced constant bombardment but they did not surrender. The idea for the album was conceived early in the conflict by Lanarkshire art teacher Margaret Plant. It was covered in Buchanan tartan silk, decorated with a thistle, and included illustrations and poetry by Robert Burns and the Coat