The Great War
1914-1918
 

The Graveyards of France and Belgium are sacred to us all, they are a permanent monument to Freedom here in Western Europe.  The men who lie buried in battlefields such as those in the Somme Valley were the Defenders of our Freedom where we would have been with out their Heroic Acts God only knows.
The 1st World War came about after a drawn out political squabble between Austria and Hungary which later saw Germany take control, soon after Great Britain, Russia & The USA among many other countries came to the front to enter what was to become one of the worst tragedies ever known to man kind.
 

As a Loyalist Flute Band we don't only Remember the Fallen from the streets & villages of Northern Ireland who died in the Great War, we remember all the men & women who gave their lives from every country that fought, But the men of the Ulster Division are fiercely & emotionally remembered with affection because of the obvious sacrifice they made and also because of the circumstances that surrounded their country & its people at the time of going to war, they so unselfishly ignored the Back stabbing of the time to answer the British Governments call to arms and make the ultimate sacrifice for a Nation (Britain) who were only too ready to turn their backs on them one year earlier and ironically force them into a United Ireland against their will, Ulster has been dealt many a devious & bad card by successive British Governments and we should always fling Ulster's Sacrifice back in the politicians face when they do behave in such a manor, we will always remember (as every true British citizen does and should!) all the fallen of all the Allied Forces who died during the Great War no matter their country of birth , But The British Government must never be aloud to forget the sacrifice made by the Ulstermen, it is Natural that each and every country & community remembers with deep emotion the Fallen from their own streets, towns and cities and we are no different! but our fellow British Citizens (the people of Ulster) still face a daily threat of treachery and British politicians should never be allowed to forget the sacrifices that Ulster Men & Women made for THEIR freedom .

As mentioned above we are are often accused by the narrow minded of forgetting the Scots who fell in the 1st world war!! but this HAS never and WILL never be the case, this ignorance comes from a minority of know-alls, who should learn not to be so Quick to judge.
 

The Scots The Many Scots Battalions whose men fell  at The Somme will always be held deep in our hearts also, in the same breath as we speak of the Enniskillen's we can also speak with equal pride of the men of the Black Watch  who fell in their thousands at Flanders & beyond . We as Scots Loyalists are no different from our fellow countrymen & Loyalists in England or Wales, we support with out apology our fellow countrymen in Northern Ireland in their day to day struggle to resist the devious plotters & conspirators from within Irish Nationalism and the Mainland left wing groups who work away to loosen Britain's Grip on the 6 counties of Ulster.

Black Watch taking a break from fighting during 1918 in France

Ulstermen to this day remain defiant against the same enemy as what the period UVF were formed to resist in 1912-13, the enemy of that era might not have had the Semtex or the multi million $ support from Irish America but it still had the same Goal and determination to Murder & over throw the Unionist population, the very same Goal & Determination it still has to this day!, and in return it will (as it always has) face the same FORCE of resistance as it did  all those 90 years ago.  

It is sad that people forget that thousands of Scots men signed the Ulster Covenant and many Companies of the UVF were also formed in Glasgow , Lanarkshire & Edinburgh in 1913-14, Before the Great War broke out  many Scots pledged their allegiance to Ulster's Cause and vowed to resist Irish Republicans and their push towards an All Ireland State, to many of us here in Scotland i am afraid nothing has changed!!.

We will not and can not forget the sacrifice the Ulstermen made, if we were to do this we would be trampling on the graves of our Fallen heroes, just as so many have done in the past!.