Remembering their sacrifices and paying our tribute to the brave

Nov 11 2008 by Gordon Bannerman, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

Remembering their sacrifices and paying our tribute to the brave

SERVICES were conducted across Perth and Kinross on Sunday in memory of the local servicemen and women who fought so bravely during last century’s World Wars and conflicts, as well as those involved in present day hostilities.

Yesterday (Tuesday) was also the 90th anniversary of the signing of the Armistice at end of the First World War.

Speaking after Sunday’s Remembrance Parade in Perth, Provost John Hulbert said: “In Perth this year there have been several occasions when we have remembered the fallen of the Second World War. It will be one of the last years when significant numbers of those who fought in that conflict can take part.

“In early June we had the final re-union of the 51st Highland Division Veterans’ Association. There were two parts to that occasion – the dedication of the Tapestry depicting the story of the 51st Highland Division in St Johns, and an emotional parade to the memorial on the North Inch.

“In October, I took part in the dedication of a plaque commemorating the military service and sacrifice of women, principally in the Auxiliary Territorial Service, which was the Army unit for women throughout the Second World War, and in the Women’s Royal Army Corps. Twelve hundred women gave their lives during the two world wars. This plaque can also be seen in St John’s opposite the tapestry.

“Finally, on Friday, we had the laying of wreaths at the Mercat Cross, and after that at the North Inch. Mr Harry Ruthven was present at the North Inch, and he is here today.”

Mr Ruthven is one of Perth’s last survivors of the retreat of the British Expeditionary force in France in 1940. The Black Watch was defending the Maginot Line and escaped the encirclement by the Panzer divisions that imprisoned the rest of the British Army in Dunkirk.

However the German army continued to advance and eventually encircled the 1st Batallion at St Valery – from which there was no escape, and they surrendered on June 8, 1940. Mr Ruthven served the next five years in a POW camp.

Perth SNP MSP Roseanna Cunningham also laid a wreath at the Mercat Cross, St John’s Square, in front of Perth City Hall, on Friday to mark the dedication of the annual Garden of Remembrance.

Roseanna said: “The red poppies we wear remind us of the blood that was spilled and the flowers that sprang up through the churned up mud of the battle scarred fields in Flanders.

“There can hardly have been a family in Scotland that wasn’t touched with tragedy during that terrible conflict and many of us can tell of young men – like my Great Uncle Billy, killed at Ypres – whose memories are kept alive by the descendents of those who knew them.

St John’s Kirk will be open from 10am to noon today to allow those who wish to visit the Shrine, light a candle or sit in peace and tranquillity to mark the moment of Remembrance at the ‘eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month’.

This year marks the 90th anniversary of that date and the end of the First World War. There was a huge turn-out at Sunday’s traditional service.

Whilst the Shrine in the Kirk was created as a memorial to those who died in the First World War, it has kept pace with memorials to those the died in the Second World War, Burma, Korea and other conflicts - and the most recent additions are the 51st Highland Division Tapestry and the memorial to women from Scotland who served in the army between 1917 and 1992.

All are welcome to visit the Kirk.