WATCH: Piper commemorates St Valéry in Allandale

Local piper Neil Clark played in tribute to those involved in the Battle of Saint Valéry during World War Two on Friday morning in Allandale.

He joined with hundreds of pipers from across Scotland and the rest of the world to play a poignant tribute to the thousands of Scots who were killed or captured during the battle, which has been called “the forgotten Dunkirk”.

At 10am on June 12, he played the haunting pipers march, Heroes of St Valéry, to remember those who fought there.

Neil, an ex Scots Guard, was joined for the occasion, observing social distancing guidelines, by Falkirk’s Provost William Buchanan.

Neil runs Falkirk Piping, which provides tutoring for those learning to play the bagpipes locally.

Provost Buchanan said: “It was a very fitting tribute at Allandale this morning with piper Neil Clark playing along with over 400 pipers world wide the Heroes of St Valéry.

“Neil’s grandfather was in the Allandale pipe band who joined up.

“It was very poignant for Neil who also piped a tune for Allandale he composed.”

The lesser-known battle of Saint-Valéry-en-Caux saw troops, largely from the 51st Highland Division, fight almost continuously for ten days against overwhelming odds.

Eventually surrounded by the Germans at Saint Valéry, those who were not killed or fell to their deaths from the cliffs trying to escape were captured on June 12, 1940.

Marched hundreds of miles to Prisoner of War camps in eastern Europe, they endured appalling conditions for five long years.