The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
100 years on, Angus folk pay tribute to the fallen.
A piper’s lament led the touching acts on Remembrance Day
Tayside and Fife fell silent as communities gathered to honour and remember the men and women whose lives were lost or changed forever during the First World War.
Remembrance Sunday services and wreath-laying ceremonies were held in churches and at war memorials as people paused to reflect on 100 years since the end of the conflict.
Services were held across Perth and Kinross, starting at 6am as Perth was stirred awake to the sound of a piper playing the traditional lament Battle’s O’er, outside St Ninian’s Cathedral.
This formed part of an international event where 1,000 pipers played the same tune at the same time in different locations. Bill Bennett, a piper from Stanley, also took part.
Provost Dennis Melloy, Lordlieutenant of Perth and Kinross, Brigadier Sir Melville Jameson and Commanding Officer 7 SCOTS Lt Col Matt Sheldrick continued the honours, leading a wreath-laying ceremony at the 51st Memorial on North Inch.
A civic reception took place in Perth Concert Hall from midday while military vehicles were displayed outside.
Parades took place in Auchterarder, Kinross, Crieff, Alyth, Pitlochry, Blairgowrie, Comrie, Muthill, Burrelton, Abernethy, Braco and Blair Atholl. A roll of honour was read in Stanley followed by the lighting of a beacon.
As well as the commemorations in towns and villages throughout Fife, St Andrews’ West Sands was one of five Scottish beaches participating in a nationwide initiative which saw a portrait depicting a casualty of the First World War drawn in the sand before being slowly washed away as the tide rolled in. The Pages of the Sea project was the idea of film director Danny Boyle who, in addition to the designs by artists Sand in Your Eye, invited the public to join in by creating silhouettes of people on the shore.
Beacons were lit in various locations at 7pm, with church bells pealing over the rooftops precisely five minutes later – harking back to when bells in steeples and towers across the nation rang out to mark the end of the Great War.
A special service was held in Limekilns Parish Church where the Reverend Norman Grant was assisted by children from Limekilns Primary School and other youth organisations. The 4ft high steel basket of the Limekilns beacon had particular significance as it was one of two constructed by apprentices at Babcock’s site in Rosyth.
Several other beacons were lit at sites throughout Fife, including the hill above Lindores Abbey where an open air remembrance service was held.
In Angus and the Mearns a service organised by Kirriemuir Heritage Trust and the town’s Rotary, A County Remembers, took place at the Old Parish Church. It included a performance by the Scottish Police and Community Choir and involved cadets from the area on Saturday evening.
A haunting bagpipe tribute to the fallen sounded in the early Sunday morning darkness of Forfar’s Balmashanner war memorial. Lord Lieutenant of Angus, Georgiana Osborne, led the town’s Remembrance parade and the laying of wreaths at The Cross. In Brechin, a memorial garden featuring a marble globe honouring the 300 men of the city – 144 from Montrose Street alone – was opened at Dall’s Lane.
A young Lathallan piper played at 6am on Johnshaven harbour pierhead in unison with fellow pipers across the UK at the start of the day of commemoration.
Hundreds of people lined the streets of Dundee yesterday to pay respect to all those who gave their lives in conflict.
Piper Neil Nicholson played Battle’s O’er at St Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral at 6am. The Very Reverend Jeremey Auld then led a short service of remembrance at the cathedral, which was attended by Lord Provost Ian Borthwick and representatives of the armed forces.
Dundee’s main remembrance event began with a march from Dundee High School to St Mary’s Church. Veterans, service personnel and cadets were watched by hundreds at they marched past dignitaries on Reform Street on their way to Nethergate church.
Following a service in the church, the dignitaries moved to the Law for a second ceremony at the war memorial.
There was an impromptu memorial service at the Black Watch Memorial on Powrie Brae at 11am.
Although no formal service had been organised for Remembrance Sunday, 40 people turned up to pay their respects, including poet Gary Robertson who recited a poem dedicated to his grandfathers, who served with the Black Watch in the Second World War.