Brave men of the 51st Highland

Sir, – I was delighted to see a variety of charities call for pipers across the country to pay tribute to the thousands of Scottish soldiers and others killed or captured during the battle of Saint-Valéry-enCaux, on June 12 1940, 80 years ago.

Just days after the successful mass evacuations at Dunkirk, thousands of troops remained on continental Europe.

Winston Churchill ordered the 20,000 men of the 51st Highland Division to stay in France and defend Britain’s ally against advancing German troops at all costs. They fought almost continuously for 10 days against overwhelming odds until surrounded at St Valéry.

A combination of fog and the proximity of German artillery above the town prevented the awaiting flotilla of ships from reaching shore.

Those who were not killed in the fighting or fell to their deaths from the cliffs trying to escape, were captured and marched hundreds of miles to prisoner of war camps in eastern Europe, where they endured appalling conditions for five years.

However, at the time the event was covered up and little talked about since. While the heroism of the 51st may have gone unnoticed in Britain, they were thanked for their efforts in France.

Following the Allied victory, the French government presented surviving members of the division with the yellow and blue-striped Somme medal.

In addition to the proposed fitting tribute by pipers, the UK Government should similarly be awarding a special medal to herald these valiant fighters.

While events such as Dunkirk, D-Day and VE Day are rightly commemorated, it is highly appropriate that the memory of those who fought and fell at St Valéry are remembered. Alex Orr.

2/3 Marchmont Road, Edinburgh.