A SPECIAL ceremony highlighting a century since the unveiling of a memorial and the efforts of three men who lost their lives through the First World War will take place in Dunbar this weekend.

Dunbar War Memorial was unveiled and dedicated in front of several thousand people on July 3, 1921.

Exactly a century later, another public ceremony is again being held at the memorial, on the town’s Marine Road.

The ceremony will include the dedication of three recently added names of Dunbar servicemen who died in the First World War, two in Canadian uniforms.

East Lothian Courier: A ceremony takes place at Dunbar War Memorial tomorrow (Saturday) - 100 years since it was unveiledA ceremony takes place at Dunbar War Memorial tomorrow (Saturday) - 100 years since it was unveiled

Richard Welsh emigrated to Canada in 1907 when he was 21 before returning to Europe with the 29th Battalion of the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force, and later transferred to the 6th Infantry Brigade. He died on February 25, 1919, in a military hospital in France of pneumonia attributable to active service, at the age of 33.

His brother William had moved to Canada two years earlier and returned to Europe with the 210th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, and later transferred to the 3rd Battalion of the Canadian Machine Gun Corps.

He died on November 10, 1918 – the last full day of conflict – aged 37.

Finally, Samuel Henderson served in the 2/10th Cyclist Battalion of the Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment), which spent most of the war on coastal defence duties around Berwick and Berwickshire.

He died on August 21, 1917, at Templehall Camp, Coldingham, of gunshot wounds, aged 23.

Herbert Coutts, from Dunbar Community Council, highlighted the ceremony, which takes place at 11am tomorrow (Saturday).

He said: “The ceremony will be led by Councillor John McMillan, Provost of East Lothian; Roderick Urquhart, Lord Lieutenant of East Lothian, who will represent HM The Queen; and Mary Duncan, Honorary Canadian Consul for Scotland, the Canadian Government.

“Senior students from Dunbar Grammar School will read brief citations about the individuals whose names have been added. Local clergy will deliver a Bible reading and prayers.

“The Dunbar branch of the Royal British Legion is arranging for military veterans to attend, and is providing a piper and stewards. The SNI Yeomanry will be represented by serving officers and a trumpet major.

“In all, the memorial bears the names of 220 individuals honoured in perpetuity by the people of Dunbar and area for sacrificing their lives in defence of the rights and liberties we enjoy today as citizens of a free and democratic country.

“The ceremony provides the opportunity for us to reassert the pledge: ‘We will remember them.’”