SNP President, Ian Hudghton MEP, was among a group of Scottish and Commonwealth dignitaries who attended the unveiling of a Celtic cross memorial in honour of those Scottish soldiers who fought and died in the First World War.  The ceremony took place in Frezenburg, Flanders, the site of some of the bloodiest battles and trench warfare of the War.  The memorial cross was unveiled by Scottish Minister for Europe, External Relations and Culture, Linda Fabiani MSP. 

 

Ypres and Passchendaele, two nearby towns within a stone's throw of the Scottish monument, are two whose names are recognised across Europe as emblematic of the bloodiest battles of the First World War.  Scotland paid a particularly high price in terms of the sheer volume of its soldiers who died in the conflict.

 

The Scottish memorial cross in the serene Flemish countryside will stand as a permanent reminder of those Scots who never left Flanders fields in the battles and the war of attrition that took place in the grey battlefields of the Ypres Salient.

 

Above is a photograph of Ian Hudghton MEP and Linda Fabiani MSP before setting off for the memorial ceremony.  The unveiling of the granite Celtic cross took place at Frezenburg, Flanders, on Saturday 25th August 2007.  The statue is situated in the Ypres Salient, where it is estimated more than 200,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers fought and died in the First World War.