The forces charity, Legion Scotland, will host commemorations at Edinburgh Castle on April 25th 2015 marking the 100th anniversary of the Allied landings at Gallipoli.
The remembrance service at the Scottish National War Memorial, within the castle walls, will be televised live to a large screen on the Castle Esplanade overlooking the city.
Legion Scotland says everyone is most welcome. People are asked to arrive at 7.30am for a 7.45am start.
The charity says: “Given this significant milestone, our ANZAC Day celebration will a little different this year and we expect a large turnout.”
The event will open with a performance of ‘And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda’, written by the Scottish folk singer Eric Bogle, and the Legion Scotland National Standards being marched across the castle drawbridge.
Wreaths will be laid at the Scottish National War Memorial, and also on the Esplanade at the replica Stone of Remembrance, to honour Scotland’s sacrifice.
The National War Memorial was completed in 1927 to commemorate almost 150,000 Scottish casualties of the First World War. It now also remembers those who fell in the Second World War and conflicts since 1945.
Eric Bogle’s ‘And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda’ describes the experiences of a young Australian soldier at Gallipoli. It’s regularly used to commemorate those who served in the 1915 Allied campaign aimed at forcing Turkey out of the war. Bogle is a Scottish singer-songwriter who now lives in Australia.
More details can be found on the website of Legion Scotland. The charity was founded after the First World War, as Royal British Legion Scotland, to help veterans.
A Centenary News round-up of Gallipoli Centenary commemorations taking place on April 25 can be found here.
Information from Legion Scotland
Images courtesy of Scottish National War Memorial
Posted by: Peter Alhadeff, Centenary News