The memorial was paid for by The Scottish - American War Memorial Committee representing Scottish-Americans as a tribute to the bravery of Scottish troops during World War I. The Scottish National War Memorial (with similar design relating to the military in the Shrine) having been opened in July of that same year it was evidently relatedly unveiled on the 7th September 1927 by the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Alanson B Houghton, with the Mackintosh's text reading "if it be life that waits, I shall live forever unconquered. If death, I shall die at last, strong in my pride and free" and with on the contemporary postcard the title "Spirit of 1914".