Preview of ‘moving’ Armistice illumination held at Scottish Parliament

A preview of a special light and sound projection to mark the 100th anniversary of the Armistice has taken place at the Scottish Parliament.

On Remembrance Sunday, the names of all those who died serving on behalf of Scotland in the First World War will be projected onto the building at Holyrood.

It will take a full seven hours for the names of each of the 134,712 men and women listed in the Scottish National War Memorial Roll of Honour to be shown outside the building.

They include servicemen, nurses, munitions factory workers, Merchant Navy personnel, and overseas servicemen who fought on behalf of Scotland.

Set to music, the illumination covering the facade of the Parliament includes photographs and designs that tell the story of the 1914-1918 conflict.

Christine Grahame, Deputy Presiding Officer of the Parliament, described the illumination as “extremely moving” as she watched a preview of the display on Friday evening.

Members of public are invited to the event, which runs from 5pm until midnight, and will include performances by pipers.

The projection, entitled Their Name Liveth, was designed by artist Ross Ashton and is the result of a partnership between the Scottish Parliament, the Scottish National War Memorial and The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo.

Speaking at the preview, Mr Ashton said: “The concept was to show these 135,000 names of everybody who passed during the First World War, not just service people, but also the nurses, munitions workers, merchant seamen, all kinds of other roles.

“I couldn’t think of a better way of commemorating this moment, this 100th year than to show every name of every person.

“I hope the response will be an understanding of the scale (of loss), that’s really what it’s about.

“It’s easy to say 135,000, it takes you two or three seconds, but to stand and look at it for seven hours will have more of an impact, I hope.”