DOWN MEMORY LANE
Remembrance Sunday is expected to be particularly poignant 100 years after the First World War ended on November 11. In the Courier of November 14 1968, 50 years on from Armistice Day, the Remembrance services were reported with six paragraphs on the front page and no pictures. Perhaps this was because the world seemed a more dangerous place. The Vietnam War was at roughly its mid-point and was to continue for another seven years. Horrific pictures, shot by war photographers such as Don McCuillin and Tim Page, filled 1968’s daily papers and television news. In the UK The Troubles had just begun in Northern Ireland after a civil rights march, on October 5, led to widespread rioting. That 1968 report states: ‘Highland Parish Church was the venue for the main service with contingents of various armed forces and youth organisations parading there. ‘Unfortunately, the annual service at the War Memorial on the Esplanade had to be cancelled because of inclement weather and the service was held indoor at Victoria Hall. ‘Representatives of the RAF, the Royal Navy, the TA, Sea Cadets, Boy Scouts, Girl Guides and Army Cadets marched to the Highland Parish Church where Reverend C. M. Henderson officiated. ‘The Provost of Campbeltown Daniel McKinven, and Session Clerk Archd. Lamont read the lessons while Lieutenant Ian Mathieson of the Royal Navy, paid a tribute to the fallen. James Kidd was the soloist. ‘At Castlehill Church, N L McMillan and Charles Stewart laid wreaths on the church’s two war memorials. Reverend J R H Cormack was in the pulpit.’