A poignant evening filled with the sound of military pipes and drums paid tribute with "Scotland’s Salute" to the national heroes who witnessed the guns fall silent in May 1945.
A concert collaboration between Poppy Scotland and Legion Scotland promised a programme of "stirring music benefitting the strength and resilience of the wartime generation" to honour the occasion.
GB News was invited behind the scenes at the final dress rehearsal before the big performance at the historic Usher Hall in Edinburgh last night (Tuesday, May 6).
The bands of His Majesty’s Royal Marines and the Royal Regiment of Scotland added the final touches to Scotland’s primary contribution to the 80th anniversary calendar.
A poignant evening filled with the sound of military pipes and drums paid tribute with "Scotland’s Salute" to the national heroes who witnessed the guns fall silent in May 1945
GB News
Rousing military ensembles for brass, pipes and drums were joined by Scottish Symphony Orchestra Violinist Iona McDonald, singer songwriter Cammy Barnes and singer Amy Hawthorn.
Ex-Servicemen and women were honoured during the national remembrance concert, where the audience heard some memorable and fascinating wartime tales.
Throughout the performance, Poppy Scotland incorporated conversations and moving testimonies, including that of Cath Dummond, who recalled receiving a telegram in August 1944 informing her that her husband of just 10 months had died in a plane crash.
She was eight months pregnant and feared the struggles as a single mother.
Cath said: “I remember that telegram arriving like it was yesterday. I screamed the place down. I was absolutely heartbroken and didn’t see how I would get through it. It was a real sense of fear raising a child alone, with no money or help.”
On VE Day, 1945, Margaret Landels remembers hearing that the war had ended and everyone going out to celebrate. She said: “Some people had a band, and we had a dance along South Queensferry.”
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She had signed up to the Royal Navy in Edinburgh after being moved into action upon seeing a “We Need You!” poster.
The Scotland’s Salute: VE80 commemorative event in Edinburgh aimed to rekindle the tsunami of relief that swept over Europe on May 8, 1945.
Chief Executive of Legion Scotland, Dr Claire Armstrong, OBE, who oversaw the dress rehearsal, said prior to the show that the audience was in for a real treat.
Before the show kicked off, she told GB News: “We want to take them on a journey.
“We want to go through the build up to that announcement that the war was finally over, take them through the celebrations and just to experience with everybody what it must have felt like 80 years ago.
“We’ll hear the personal stories from our veterans and we’ll end with the remembrance piece - which is hugely important for us that we take that time to reflect and think of those who didn’t make it back."
A concert collaboration between Poppy Scotland and Legion Scotland promised a programme of 'stirring music benefitting the strength and resilience of the wartime generation' to honour the occasion
GB News
Singer-songwriter Cammy Barnes, Britain’s Got Talent semi-finalist closed out the show, with the Scotland’s Salute while realising a new single just days earlier.
He said he was “more excited than nervous”, but admitted “there’s a teeny wee bit of pressure”.
“My papa was a big military man,” he told GB News, “and he would have loved to have seen it."
“He got my dad into the army and my dad plays the bagpipes in the Queen’s Own Highlanders, previously the Cameron Highlanders, which is why I’m called Cameron," Barnes said.
“So I thought doing the Tattoo was going to be the coolest show I’ve ever done, but I think tonight might actually top it."
Scotland’s Salute was in a similar vein to the D-Day 80th concert held at Usher Hall in 2024.
But while D-Day was tinged with anticipation, fear and concern for parachute regiments and all allied forces aboard the landing crafts, May 8, 1945 was a global celebration filled with relief, jubilation and community.
