This year, pupils at Easdale Primary School – aided by members of the Easdale branch of Legion Scotland – explored military service and the importance of Remembrance as part of their curriculum. Guardsman Niall Munro spoke about his service in the Scots Guards, while Squadron Leader (retired) Lorraine Reynolds, Easdale branch secretary, discussed the role of women in the Armed Forces. 

Cadet Instructor Hugh McNeil delighted the children when he took the Ferret, a small armoured personnel carrier, to the school on Armistice Day. A poppy display on the school’s fence was a poignant sign of Remembrance. 

At the same time, the Easdale branch, in conjunction with the Scottish Slate Islands Heritage Trust, held a special act of Remembrance at Kilbrandon Old Churchyard to honour the fallen soldiers of the First World War. While there are four official war graves at Kilbrandon, another 12 local men never returned to home soil and so are remembered and commemorated here with their families. 

Acting Padre Phil Moss battled the wind to deliver a moving service, followed by the unveiling of a specially commissioned sign which displays details of Kilbrandon’s fallen servicemen. The Scottish Slate Islands Heritage Trust held a reception and exhibition at Seil Island Community Hall following the event 

On Remembrance Sunday itself, a beautiful autumn morning, the Slate Islands and its environs heard the skirl of a piper’s lament and the call of a bugler’s Last Post. 

Deputy Lieutenant of Argyll Jamie Mellor led the tributes at the Kilbrandon War Memorial. The community of Luing honoured its fallen at Kilchattan. A quiet act of Remembrance was held at Kilmelford. And at 11am, the Last Post rang out on Easdale Island.