Armistice 100: The view from local politicians

Again, as with so many others, the scale of the catastrophe is not in the abstract for him, because while he will be attending commemoration events at various sites across the district he’ll have in his mind’s eye his own family connection to the Great War - his Uncle Joe, who died in action aged 21.

Falkirk East MSP Angus MacDonald, who attended yesterday’s Festival of Remembrance, will be joining today’s parade from the Royal British Legion in Grangemouth to Abbotsgrange Church for the serfvice, before proceeding to the Grangemouth War Memorial to lay the Scottish Parliament wreath.

He’ll then return to the Legion before going to Gransable Cemetery to commemorate the foreign airmen who died during training at Grangemouth aerodrome during the Second World War - before visiting Bo’ness to see the work carried out by the community around the war memorial there.

East Falkirk MP Martyn Day, who has also been attending local Armistice services, said: “I was delighted to meet the youngsters from the 3rd Bo’ness Scout Group as they were making their preparations for this years commemoration.

“Earlier in the week I took part in the IPT Poppy ride to help raise awareness of the Poppy Appeal, and attended a Parliamentary session with Care after Combat, the charity working to help prisoner veterans to reintegrate into society after leaving prison, to learn more about its vital mentoring services.”