Fife veterans in Great Pilgrimage to Somme and Ypres battlefields

Two Cupar veterans recently returned from a landmark tour of remembrance to First World War battlefields and cemeteries in France and Belgium.

Ray Riley and Frank Wilkinson, of the Cupar branch of the Royal British Legion Scotland, were part of the Scottish delegation at the Great Pilgrimage 90. The event retraced the steps of 11,000 veterans and war widows in the first Royal British Legion pilgrimage of 1928.

The original tour, which marked a decade since the fighting ended, saw visits to the Somme and Ypres battlefields.

The Cupar delegates were among 47 standard bearers and wreath layers from 23 Scottish branches.

James Anderson, branch manager, said: “The Cupar branch proudly represented the people of Cupar at a unique occasion, where we carried our standards and wreaths with our comrades from around the world to commemorate the last 100 days of the First World War.”

Just as it did 90 years ago, the pilgrimage culminated in a parade through Ypres to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s Menin Gate Memorial for a ceremony to commemorate the launch of the Hundred Days Offensive.

It was the biggest membership event in the legion’s history, with more than 2,200 representatives and dignitaries from the UK, Commonwealth and Northern Europe.

The pilgrimage is part of a series of Royal British Legion Scotland events taking place over 100 days in the run up to the 100th anniversary of the Armistice of the First World War.

The trip went ahead, thanks to significant fundraising efforts by all 23 legion branches.