Services organised to pay respects to veterans

The public are invited to attend Remembrance events which will be taking place across Hamilton.

On Friday, November 11, there will be a short service at the Victoria Cross memorial in the town centre at 11am.

And on Remembrance Sunday, November 13, crosses will be placed at the Cenotaph in the public park, Bothwell Road, at 3pm.

Ian Forsyth MBE, convener of the Joint Ex-services Committee, said:“we look forward to seeing as many people as possible at any or all of these services, to remind us that the freedom we now seem to take for granted is still being paid for by the many who are still in hospitals, in wheelchairs, confined to bed, blinded, or dependent on other to make life bearable, due to their endeavours to ensure that the freedom we take for granted will continue.

“They didn’t count the cost to themselves and only too often we are inclined to forget that the cost of that freedom is still being paid for by the many whose names we don’t remember and so often no longer think about.”

Provost Eileen Logan said:“for most of us we set aside those two short minutes each year to remember all those who have made the ultimate sacrifice at home or abroad fighting for our freedom. We are not just recognising that they laid down their lives for others, we are reminding ourselves of just how lucky we are to have the freedoms that we enjoy today.

“All of us must remember that their sacrifices were not and must never be thought of in vain. Our freedom was won at a great cost.”