WE’LL NEVER FORGET
Country goes silent to honour sacrifices of war
THE FIRST Minister joined the wife of the highest ranking soldier killed by the IRA to remember Scotland’s war dead yesterday.
Nicola Sturgeon laid a wreath at the Stone of Remembrance outside the City Chambers in Edinburgh during a poignant ceremony.
Another wreath was laid by Anne Blair, whose husband Lieutenant Colonel David Blair was one of 18 soldiers killed by an IRA bomb at Warrenpoint, Northern Ireland, in 1979.
Sturgeon said: “Remembrance Sunday is always a poignant occasion.
“It’s an opportunity for all of us to pay our respects to those who have fought in our armed forces, our veterans, and those who currently serve in our armed forces to keep the whole world safe. We owe them an
enormous debt of gratitude. Today is a moment to remember the sacrifices made.”
Military bands played as parades were formed ahead of the two-minute silence, marked by a gun fired from Edinburgh Castle.
A two-minute silence was also held at a service at the cenotaph in George Square, Glasgow led by the city’s Lord Provost Eva Bolander and attended by Deputy First Minister John Swinney.
Bolander said: “Glasgow owes its military and veterans a great debt. We are proud to remember those who fell and to support our serving military.”
Veterans Minister Keith Brown laid a wreath on behalf of the people of Scotland at the cenotaph at Puller Memorial Park at the Bridge of Allan remembrance service.
In London, the Prince of Wales led the Remembrance Sunday ceremony for the first time as the Queen looked on from a balcony.
It is believed to be the first time the monarch has broken with tradition and not performed the symbolic duty at the Whitehall service.
Political leaders including Prime Minister Theresa May and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn were present for the moment, which is being seen as a shift of head of state duties from the Queen to the heir to the throne.
In Enniskillen, Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar laid a wreath at the site of an appalling IRA bomb 30 years ago that killed 12 people and injured 68.
DUP leader Arlene Foster, Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire, and Police Service of Northern Ireland chief constable George Hamilton also laid tributes.
Meanwhile, a viable pipe bomb was found close to a war memorial in Omagh before a Remembrance Sunday parade.
The march was diverted and the traditional wreath-laying at the County Tyrone town’s cenotaph was postponed after the area was sealed off following the discovery of the device yesterday.
It comes almost two decades after a dissident republican Real IRA blast killed 29 in the busy market town in 1998.