We must remember sacrifice at Arras

Sir, - To a certain extent, the Battle of Arras, part of the joint British and French Spring Offensive in the First World War, can be regarded as a forgotten battle.

Its ferocity, however, would not be forgotten by the participants.

In its 39-day duration, nearly 159,000 casualties were suffered by British and Commonwealth soldiers.

For the British, the casualty rate in this battle was the highest of any period of the war - an average of more than 4,000 killed and wounded per day.

This made Arras even more lethal than the Somme in 1916, or Passchendaele later in 1917, although in these battles, overall losses were much higher. It was particularly deadly with regard to Scotland.

All three of the Scottish divisions on the Western Front (9th, 15th and 51st), were engaged throughout and between them incurred more than 18,000 casualties.

My home town of Leslie was also very badly affected.

Overall, 14 Leslie servicemen lost their lives in this battle, including a truly horrendous figure of 13 in a mere 18 days.

Like many battles of the First World War, Arras was a limited success.

The chief gain was the capture of Vimy Ridge by the Canadian Corps.

The French part of the offensive was such a disaster that it led to widespread mutinies in late spring and early summer.

They did not fully recover until mid 1918, one of the contributing factors to the British efforts and losses at Passchendaele, when the British and Commonwealth armies had to take the lion’s share of the war in the west. Graham McLeod. 64 High Street, Leslie.

Picture: Press Association. A service takes place at the Scottish National War Memorial at Edinburgh Castle to mark the centenary of the Battle of Arras.