Remembrance commemorations in Caithness are set to return to a more traditional format this year after the low-key events of 2020.

The county's main two ceremonies, at the Thurso and Wick war memorials, will go ahead at 11am on Remembrance Sunday (November 14). There will also be services in rural communities.

Collections will be made as usual for the Scottish Poppy Appeal. It is 100 years since poppies were first worn as a show of support for the armed forces community.

Covid-19 rules in place last year meant limits on numbers attending, but with the easing of restrictions there will be a more normal feel to remembrance events in 2021.

On the morning of Thursday, November 11, members of the Thurso branch of Legion Scotland will be joined by pupils from the town's three primary schools for their Armistice Day ceremony. This will be held in St Peter's and St Andrew's Church and a two-minute silence will be observed.

On the Saturday morning (November 13) the branch will be joined by a detachment of Sea Cadets and Army Cadets at Thurso cemetery to lay poppy crosses at the 66 war graves there. The Lord-Lieutenant, Lord Thurso, hopes to attend both these events.

On November 14, Thurso branch members plan to return to their traditional Remembrance Sunday commemoration. It involves a parade to the war memorial and a short service led by the branch padre, the Rev David Malcolm, timed for 10.45am.

This is followed by the exhortation, the two-minute silence and wreath-laying. The parade then joins the congregation of St Peter's and St Andrew's Church for its Sunday morning service before returning to the Legion club rooms.

The salute will be taken by Vice-Lieutenant Willie Watt, as the Lord-Lieutenant will be in Wick this year.

Thurso branch chairman Gus Mackay said: "It is 100 years since the first poppy appeal and we feel sure that people will be just as generous now as they were then. Since the Covid-19 restrictions are eased, we would ask veterans and indeed the public to again join us at these acts of remembrance."

Alex Paterson, chairman of the Wick, Canisbay and Latheron branch, echoed those sentiments and emphasised that remembrance commemorations remain as important as ever.

Donations to the Scottish Poppy Appeal help provide vital support for service families, veterans and those currently serving.

"A lot of people have mental health problems and are under a lot of stress and we have to help them," Mr Paterson said. "If there's anybody in need, they are welcome to get in touch with us."

He pointed out that last year's collection in Wick had raised £10,960.

“That's really good for a town this size," Mr Paterson said. "I didn't think we would get half that amount of money last year, because of the pandemic."

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Legion members in Wick will hold a short ceremony and wreath-laying at the war memorial at 11am on Armistice Day (Thursday).

On the Saturday (November 13) at 11am there will be a small gathering at the garden of remembrance beside Wick Town Hall where crosses will be placed, with a piper in attendance along with the Legion colours.

Wick's Remembrance Sunday event will be held at its traditional time, with Wick RBLS Pipe Band taking part in the parade to the war memorial ahead of the two-minute silence at 11am and the laying of wreaths. It will be followed by a service at St Fergus Church.

More than a century has passed since the end of World War I but Mr Paterson says the sacrifices of those who served their country should never be forgotten, and nor should the contribution of the civilian population.

“I had two uncles killed in the First World War. One was 19 and the other was 20. One was my mother's oldest brother and the other was one of my father's brothers," he said. “A whole generation was wiped out. It was terrible.

“People were in the forces, but what about all the civilian population that kept things going here? We can't forget them.

“The war was a total war. The farmers, the fishermen, everybody that was producing food, they were all involved in some way or another.

“A lot of people seem to forget that. The trains and the buses kept going – if they didn't go, there would have been no soldiers going to the front.

“We wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for those who made the ultimate sacrifice. They just had to do their duty.

“They followed the flag, and it was part and parcel of being in the military, but a lot of people other than the military helped – such as all the women who knitted socks and scarves for them in the First World War when it was freezing out in the trenches and full of rats.”

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