Tuesday 01 Jul 2008 @ 17:15
Scottish Government
Scottish Government
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Scottish war heroes remembered
Scottish soldiers who lost their lives during the Battle of the Somme were honoured at a ceremony in France today.
Communities Minister Stewart Maxwell was in France to mark the anniversary of the first day of what was one of the bloodiest episodes of the First World War.
The Royal Scots lost over a thousand men out of the total British 20,000 lives lost. A further 40,000 British personnel were wounded while attacking heavily fortified German trenches close to the village of Contalmaison.
The dead included footballers and supporters from Hearts, Hibernian, Falkirk, Raith Rovers and Dunfermline who enlisted in a battalion raised by Sir George McRae.
Despite huge losses, the 16th Battalion (known as McRae's Own) was credited with achieving the deepest penetration of the enemy line anywhere on the battlefront.
Mr Maxwell laid a wreath on behalf of the Scottish nation at the Contalmaison Cairn, the largest memorial of its kind to be built on the Western Front since the 1920s.
Mr Maxwell said:
"Over a thousand young Scottish men lost their lives on the first day of the Battle of the Somme, decimating communities and causing unimaginable sorrow for their families.
"Their sacrifice in defence of their nation has helped preserve Scotland's way of life and our democracy.
"It is very important that their courage, valour and sacrifice are recognised and never forgotten."
The McRae's Battalion Trust is a registered Scottish charity and the first in the World to be inspired by the sacrifice of an infantry battalion of World War One.
The Trust undertake an annual ceremony of remembrance in the village of Contalmaison.
Communities Minister Stewart Maxwell was in France to mark the anniversary of the first day of what was one of the bloodiest episodes of the First World War.
The Royal Scots lost over a thousand men out of the total British 20,000 lives lost. A further 40,000 British personnel were wounded while attacking heavily fortified German trenches close to the village of Contalmaison.
The dead included footballers and supporters from Hearts, Hibernian, Falkirk, Raith Rovers and Dunfermline who enlisted in a battalion raised by Sir George McRae.
Despite huge losses, the 16th Battalion (known as McRae's Own) was credited with achieving the deepest penetration of the enemy line anywhere on the battlefront.
Mr Maxwell laid a wreath on behalf of the Scottish nation at the Contalmaison Cairn, the largest memorial of its kind to be built on the Western Front since the 1920s.
Mr Maxwell said:
"Over a thousand young Scottish men lost their lives on the first day of the Battle of the Somme, decimating communities and causing unimaginable sorrow for their families.
"Their sacrifice in defence of their nation has helped preserve Scotland's way of life and our democracy.
"It is very important that their courage, valour and sacrifice are recognised and never forgotten."
The McRae's Battalion Trust is a registered Scottish charity and the first in the World to be inspired by the sacrifice of an infantry battalion of World War One.
The Trust undertake an annual ceremony of remembrance in the village of Contalmaison.
