Balerno Parish Church commemorated the Centenary of the ending of the First World War with a series of events culminating in the Service of Remembrance on November 11th 2018 exactly 100 years after the coming into effect of the Armistice at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918.
It is a sobering thought that the ‘war to end all wars’ did not achieve that promise and that within 21 years the Second World War had erupted and would continue for six years until 1945. We not only owe a debt to honour those who served in those wars, and in the other conflicts which have marked the last hundred years, but we also have a duty to ensure that their stories are remembered and that we learn from them.
Our commemorations included talks, exhibitions, concerts and films, all directed at remembering and retelling. By remembering and honouring the memory of those involved and those to whom memories were passed on, we hoped to enable a better understanding of past times so that we may have a firmer commitment in future to ensuring that war may be avoided.
The series of events started with a talk over supper led by John Burnside on 24 October as part of the regular Dinner Discussion series. The Parish Church’s Field of Remembrance was dedicated on 1 November along with the Poppy Fall and Field of Poppies. Almost 6000 poppies had been knitted to make these displays possible. The Remembrance bench was also dedicated during the service.
On 7th November the exhibition of ‘Stories and Memories’ ‘from over 100 years of conflicts’ opened in the Church. It was open daily between 10.30am and 7.30pm, and the Mill café was also open during Exhibition hours until 6.00pm daily. The Exhibition included storyboards drawn up from the memories of local people drawing on their own personal experiences as well as the stories passed on to them by parents and grandparents, relatives and friends. Articles, medals, photographs and books were also be on display.
On 9th November Diana Maxwell was welcomed to the Ogston Hall to talk to us about a little known episode in WW1 when the precursor of SONAR was developed at an experimental station at Aberdour. Diana Maxwell, who has appeared on a number of television programmes, told us about this tale of groundbreaking war work.
Elements of the Exhibition were on display at Currie Library in advance of the 7th.
On the evening of Saturday 10 November ‘Trenches Unforgotten’ was performed in the Church. This is a mix of the words of a few of those involved in the First World War and songs sung especially in the trenches. It was preceded on Friday evening with the 2017 film version of “Journey’s End’, a dramatic play English playwright R. C. Sherriff first performed in 1928. Set in the trenches near Saint-Quentin, Aisne in 1918, towards the end of the First World War, Journey’s End gives a glimpse into the experiences of the officers of a British Army infantry company.
Finally the Remembrance Service on 11 November provided an opportunity for reflection and Remembrance, at the close of a Remembrance period.
The Remembrance Group would like to thank all the many people who have contributed to this series of events. We would also like to thank Messrs Porteous Funeral Directors,, MacKenzies Catering, Carlyle’s Bar and Kitchen, and Circle Security for their generous support and assistance for the Remembrance 2018 project.