Alivingthankyou toheroesofWWI

TheWoodlandTrust, whichchampions nativewoods and trees, has embarked upon a project to remember all thosewho played a part in the First World War including the 147,609 Scottishsoldierswho died fighting for their country. And with various events marking the Centenary of the Gallipol i Campaign this weekend, therehas never been a more fittingtimetohonour the lives of those who gave so much to ensure our freedom, both at home and abroad. The charity’s Centenary Woods scheme, which is supported by Sainsbury’s, will see land just outside Edinburgh, transformed intoawood.

Schoolchildrenandfamilies will help Woodland Trust Scotland plant more than 50,000 native trees and sow five acres of wildflowers on the Pentland Hills to create Dreghorn Woods, a unique place of reflection.

Descendents of ‘The Lost Generation’ have hailed it a fitting tribute. David Appleton’s four great uncles – George Sydney James, Charles Edward James, Henry James and Frances Arthur James – were all killed within 15 months of each other duringWWI. Aged between 22 and 31, their deaths devastated their family, in particular their sister, Phylis.

David, 53, says:“Growingup, Iwasalways aware that the death of my uncles had devastated the family, and that my grandmother – their sister – had never recoveredfromherloss. Shewentontoserve as a nurse in a hospital for the badly wounded, walking10milestoandfrom work every day.” The Woodland Trust supporter had already planted four black poplars on his farm as a tribute to the brothers. “I couldn’timaginea moreappropriate and f i tt i n g commemoration than the CentenaryWoods,” he says. “A wood is the polar opposite of war, a beautiful, peacefuloasisofcalmand life, whichthrows intosharp contrast all that war brings andoffershopeforthefuture. Now the importance has been passed on to my son and daughter.”

Beccy Speight, Chief Executive Officer of the Woodland Trust said: “All those who made sacrifices in theFirstWorldWar didso in the hope of securing a brighter future. That’s why we’re asking people to dedicate trees to their ancestors in the CentenaryWood, in order to create acres of life-givingwoodland as a legacy.”

Over the next three years theWoodland Trust will create Centenary Woods in Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland. For £20 Woodland Trust can dedicate a single tree, which will become part of a larger forest.