Guernsey Press

Communities across Scotland to mark 100 years since First World War Armistice

A programme of commemorations is taking place around the country to mark the centenary.

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People in communities across Scotland are attending events on Sunday to mark 100 years since the end of the First World War.

Civic ceremonies, parades and services all feature in the country-wide programme of commemorations to mark the centenary of the Armistice.

People will fall silent, beacons will be lit and landmark buildings illuminated in recognition of all those who have served and lost their lives in conflict.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will begin the day by laying a wreath at the Stone of Remembrance in Edinburgh, before attending a service at the city’s St Giles Cathedral.

Armistice Day
Tributes outside Liberton Kirk in Edinburgh, where 16,000 poppies have been installed to mark the centenary of the Armistice (Andrew Milligan/PA)

She said: “Remembrance Sunday is an opportunity for people in Scotland to join with others across the world to commemorate those who made the ultimate sacrifice in conflicts during the last century.

“It allows us a chance to honour the memory of those who gave their lives, while also paying tribute to our veterans and those who continue to serve today.

“This year of course has added poignancy as it marks 100 years since the signing of the Armistice that ended the First World War.

“The laying of a wreath is a small but significant tribute, and I am privileged to be able to do so on behalf of the people of Scotland.”

The Last Post will be played and more than 100 wreaths will be laid at the Edinburgh ceremony, where Ms Sturgeon is to be joined by members of the Armed Forces and fellow politicians.

Following the service, the city will thank all those who served with a procession and service of commemoration in the Old Town.

Elsewhere, a two minute silence will be observed at 11am at the cenotaph in Glasgow’s George Square.

Armistice Day 2018
The names of people who were killed serving on behalf of Scotland in the First World War will be projected on to the Scottish Parliament (Andrew Milligan/PA)

She will later accompany the Princess Royal at the afternoon cathedral service.

At the University of Glasgow, three guns will fire a total of six blank rounds in 15-second intervals from the grounds, before falling silent just before 11am.

Aberdeen, Dundee, Inverness, Perth and Stirling will all witness parades, while countless smaller communities on the mainland and islands will pay their own tributes to the war dead.

Musicians and artists have also come together to commemorate the milestone.

Around dawn, individual pipers at locations around the world, including a number in Scotland, are performing Battle’s O’er, a traditional song played at the end of conflicts.

Meanwhile, six Scottish beaches are taking part in filmmaker Danny Boyle’s UK-wide event to mark the centenary.

St Ninian’s Isle beach in Shetland, West Sands in St Andrews, Scapa beach in Orkney, Ayr beach, Burghead Bay beach on the Moray Firth and Cula Bay beach on the isle of Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides will have a large-scale portrait of a casualty from the conflict drawn in the sand before it is washed away by the incoming tide.

After dark, a special light and sound projection will take place at the Scottish Parliament, with the names of all those who died serving on behalf of Scotland in the Great War to be beamed on to the building.

Armistice Day
Eilean Donan Castle was among landmarks illuminated in red ahead of Armistice Day in support of the 2016 Scottish Poppy Appeal (Poppy Scotland/PA)

Beacons of fire will be lit at points around Scotland and the rest of the UK during Armistice Day in a National Trust project.

Buildings and landmarks across the country have also been showing their support for the Scottish Poppy Appeal by lighting up red in the week running up to, and including, Remembrance Day.

Scottish Conservative interim leader Jackson Carlaw said: “Collectively these are genuinely affecting events which demonstrate, in their scale, the determination of the whole nation to participate in this day of remembrance.

“This centenary commemoration of the Armistice represents a salute from the world of today to the world as it was then.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat Leader Willie Rennie said: “100 years on it’s important to take time to reflect on the sacrifice of both those who fought bravely abroad and the men and women who kept life going on the home front.”

Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said: “As well as remembering those who endured, suffered and lost during the First World War, the 100th anniversary of the Armistice should also serve as a catalyst to renew our collective effort to fight for peace, equality and an end to the sufferings of war that continue to afflict people across the globe.”

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