We Shall Remember Them

On Friday 11th November, I was honoured to accept an invitation to attend a service to remember the 100th year anniversary of the Battle of the Somme, taking place in Bennett's of Kilwinning chapel in Kilbirnie. This service, carried out by Revd Fiona Ross, was truly fitting and very moving.

In this bloody battle, in northern France, nearly a million men were wounded or killed in one of the most notorious battles of WW1. On the first day of the battle, 19,240 British soldiers lost their lives, the bloodiest day in the history of the British Army. On this first day three square miles of territory were captured.

On Remembrance Sunday itself I was again honoured when I was invited to attend a Service of Remembrance in St Columba's Parish Church in Largs.

Following the service was the march to the War Memorial in Largs where wreaths were laid and silent reflection for the fallen was observed. This was truly moving and, again, a humble but fitting tribute to those lost to war.

Sadly, I fear that writer Aldous Huxley was right when he said: "That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history."