A number of events have been organised to mark the centenary of Oban War Memorial next month.
The events kick off this week with the Oban Poppy Trail, which is now live in several shop windows through the town. The trail is a great way for families to find out more about some of those who died in the two wars.
Local businesses and organisations are displaying special boards decorated with poppies made by local primary school children, alongside profiles of Oban’s fallen soldiers.
The trail is a collaboration between Hope2Oban – a local youth work charity – The Rockfield Centre, The Oban Times and Bid4Oban.
Flyers showing the trail and how to follow it can be picked up from the Rockfield Centre, and if a young person completes the trail and returns their flyer to the drop-off box back at the Rockfield Centre, they could be in with a chance to help lay a wreath at the Remembrance ceremony at the War Memorial, which marks its centenary on the 11th November this year. The profiles of the soldiers have been published in the Oban Times over the past year, and all the soldiers are remembered on the War Memorial itself.
The hope is that the poppy trail will offer Oban – particularly its young people – a way to mark and pay their respects to the sacrifice made by the soldiers.
The Poppy Trail also serves as part of Hope2Oban’s Memento Box project, a remote curriculum created with local primary schools where young people explore a topic and create a craft to do with that topic about once a month. The crafts the young people make can then be stored in their very own ‘memento boxes’.
As part of the Oban Town War Memorial Centenary Weekend, on November 10-12, the Royal Air Force will return to Oban Bay airspace on Friday November 10, when two Typhoon aircraft of No. 6 Squadron, RAF Lossiemouth, will undertake a flypast at 500ft, before one returns and climbs vertically to cloud base with full afterburners, dependent on weather conditions.
The Royal Navy also plan to be present along with representation from 5 Scots, Balaklava Company, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders.
Other events organised to mark the special anniversary include a poppy cascade on the Argyll Square Church building from November 4-17; an exhibition of war memorabilia plus an exhibition about Alexander Carrick, sculptor of Oban War Memorial, both in the Rockfield Centre, from November 4-15; an illustrated talk on the Battlefields of the First World War, on Saturday November 11 at 7-9.30pm in The Rockfield Centre; with everything culminating in the Remembrance Parade on Sunday November 12.
Leaflets for the Poppy Trail and other events are available from The Rockfield Centre as well as shops around the town.