Like so many of the battles waged along the Western Front in WW1, only a short distance of territory was gained at the cost of the lives of so many young men from our city.
Commemorative Parade & Service
On Saturday in City Square, in Dundee over 1,000 people attended the service at 12 noon which which has been preceded by a parade of around 250 from the current armed services and 300 veterans. Members of the public lined the parade route and watched the service on a large screen on the High Street.
Special guests included Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Rothesay and the First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon. The service was particularly poignant for The Prince of Wales – who is Royal Colonel of The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland, which suffered significant losses at Loos, and his Great Uncle (brother of the late Queen Mother) – Captain the Honourable Fergus Bowes-Lyon – who died on the third day of fighting.
The Guns of Loos
At 7pm I was at Dundee Contemporary Arts (DCA) for a special screening of ‘The Guns of Loos’, a silent film which hadn’t been shown since the 1930s. The Great War Dundee partnership, in association with DCA, had commissioned a new live musical score for the film by one of the UK’s leading silent film composers and performers, Stephen Horne. I think the performance of the musical score was the world premier.
Link to commemorative booklet about the Battle of Loos
