A SERVICE WILL BE HELD IN ST CUTHBERT’S CHURCH ON SUNDAY 1 JULY 2018 TO MARK THE END OF THE WW1 CENTENARIES. START TIME: 10.30 FOR 11.00.
The service will commemorate the sacrifice made by men from the City of Edinburgh and surrounding towns who volunteered to join the 16th Royal Scots at the battalion’s momentous Usher Hall recruiting launch in November 1914. This battalion was also known as ‘The Sporting Battalion’ as a result of the much publicised enlistment of players from Heart of Midlothian and other football teams, and (more famously) as ‘McCrae’s Battalion’ after its charismatic Colonel, Sir George McCrae. Three quarters of these volunteers were killed or wounded near the village of Contalmaison on 1 July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
Before our service proper begins, you’ll get the chance to see the first footage from the morning’s Remembrance event in Contalmaison. At the end of the service a poppy wreath in memory of those who died will be uplifted and piped out of the church. Those attending the service are invited to follow the wreath-bearer and piper up Lothian Road to the McCrae’s Battalion commemorative plaque on the steps of the Usher Hall in McCrae’s Place, where the wreath will be placed and dedicated.
This Act of Remembrance at the Usher Hall will occur annually in years to come on the Sunday nearest to 1 July.
You are subsequently invited to return to the Lindisfarne Room of St Cuthbert’s (at approximately 13.00) for refreshments and another chance to view footage of the Remembrance Ceremony held in Contalmaison earlier that morning.
ALL ARE WELCOME TO THIS COMMUNITY EVENT
Organised by McCrae’s Battalion Trust supported by OASIS (an outreach of St Cuthbert’s Church) in partnership with business matters and Work Place Chaplaincy Scotland.
For a link to a downloadable poster for this even click this link : st-cuthberts-poster-6-june-2018
