Two S3 history pupils from the Nicolson Institute are set for a trip to France to observe the centenary of the Battle of Arras.
Billy Campbell and Sandy Morrison are among 72 pupils representing each local authority
in Scotland selected for the five-
It has been organised by WW100 Scotland to remember 18,000 fallen Scots 100 years on.
The pupils will be joined by a matching number of French and Canadian students at a memorial service at the Faubourg d’Amiens Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in Arras on Sunday, where they will lay a wreath on behalf of the nations that fought together and place poppy crosses on graves.
The service will be led by Right Rev Dr Russell Barr, the
That evening, the Band of the Royal Regiment of Scotland will conduct a Beating Retreat in the Place des Heros.
The Battle of Arras had the highest concentration of Scottish troops fighting in a single battle during World War One.
The battle took place between 9 April and 15 May, 1917, and was part of a planned offensive by British and French forces.
Forty four of the 120 battalions that made up the ten British assault divisions were Scottish.
The average daily casualty rate was 4,076, higher than that at the Somme or the Third Battle of Ypres and a total of 159,000 soldiers died.
Two Western Isles pupils participate in WW1 battle commemorations
4 April 2017