Scotland to mark Remembrance Day as tributes paid to fallen

Scotland is marking Remembrance Day in memory of those who lost their lives serving in the two world wars and later conflicts.

The country will observe a two-minute silence at 11am to mark the day World War One ended, at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, in 1918.

This year also marks 80 years since World War Two ended, in 1945.

Remembrance events were held across Scotland and the UK over the weekend as tributes were paid to fallen armed forces personnel.

There are around 176,000 veterans living in Scotland.

Dr Claire Armstrong, OBE, CEO of Legion Scotland, said: “As a country we should never forget the sacrifices that have been made for so many, for the sake of so few.

“I wish to thank our Armed Forces community for their continued dedication to our values and our freedoms.”

First Minister John Swinney laid a wreath at the Stone of Remembrance outside Edinburgh City Chambers on Sunday alongside Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander, Holyrood Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone, Edinburgh Lord Provost Robert Aldridge, veterans and service personnel.

Swinney said it is important that people today remember the sacrifices made by those in the past.

He said: “Clearly there are fewer and fewer of those who made sacrifices in the Second World War, for example, that are still with us.

“But because of those sacrifices, it’s important that the experiences and the stories and the importance of those sacrifices is shared from generation to generation.

“There’s a particular obligation on all of us, in a world that is full of turmoil and difficulty and challenge and where there are threats to our democratic system, that we all stand together, pause, remember and reflect on the importance of the sacrifices that were made to enable us to live in peace and freedom today.”