On Sunday evening there will be a projection of the names of all the 134,712 people whose names are listed in the Scottish National War Memorial Roll of Honour.
These include servicemen and women, nurses, Merchant Navy personnel and overseas servicemen who fought for Scotland.
Beginning at 5.00pm the event will conclude at midnight with the Last Post.
This art installation is the work of Ross Ashton who has created many of the projections used at the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. Ross also worked on other events such as the London Olympics and Paralympics and the Commonwealth Games. He said : “I knew that the roll of honour existed at the Scottish National War Memorial and I couldn’t think of a better way of commemorating this moment than to show every name of every person who passed away in the service of their country.
“I thought it was really important to do something which showed the scale of what went on.”
This is a partnership of The Scottish Parliament, the Scottish National War Memorial and The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. It is the centrepiece of the parliament’s commemoration of the centenary of Armistice Day.
Deputy Presiding Officer Christine Grahame said she found it very moving. She said : “I have met people this evening who didn’t know anything about it, but were just passing in their cars and stopped to come and see it.
It’s extremely moving and very powerful. It’s when you see a family name, then you see about 30,40 or 50 of that name going past that you begin to realise the fact that it takes seven hours for this to pass.
“This is for members of the public to come to. It begins at 5 o’clock on Sunday and I think if people see this they will tell other people about it.”
THEIR NAME LIVETH at The Scottish Parliament from The Edinburgh Reporter On Vimeo on Vimeo.
The Deputy Presiding Officer also told me about the poppies she saw yesterday in Peebles during her constituency surgery. There are large poppies on every lamppost with names of those who died during the war. There are many innovative and moving tributes around the country.
The projection is set to music. Sir John Blackwood McEwen’s String Quartets Volume 1 by the Chilingrian Quartet will play and the work also features images and designs relating the story of the war which ended 100 years ago.
If you particularly want to see the names of your relatives then there will be details on The Scottish Parliament website here to offer some guidance about timings.
This work is supported by WW100 Scotland and is only one of many events being held tomorrow to mark the centenary of the Armistice.
Quintinshill Disaster
There is a restored railway coach in Leith today just in front of the Malmaison.
This is from the same type of train used to take soldiers to Liverpool in 2015.
498 members of The Royal Scots were on their way to Liverpool to embark for Gallipoli when their train was involved in a collision at Gretna. The carriages were wooden and 216 soldiers died as a result of fire spreading quickly throughout the train.
Many of the soldiers were from the 7th (Leith) Battalion.
This afternoon in Leith at 2.00pm the Lord Provost will take part in an open air service of Commemoration conducted by the Rev Iain May Minister of South Leith Parish Church supported by the church choir and the Lowland Band of The Royal Regiment of Scotland. All are welcome.
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