Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
Rt Rev Rosie Frew preached and led a prayer of commemoration – the memorial opened in 1927.
Today is also the 81st anniversary of D-Day.
On 6 June 1944, tens of thousands of Allied forces – British, Canadian and American troops – launched a combined naval, air and land assault on Nazi-occupied France.
Thousands of ships set out from the coast of England and landed on the beaches of Normandy – Juno, Gold, Sword, Utah and Omaha – winning a crucial victory that turned the tide of the Second World War.
Dumbarton man, the late Jimmy Gillies, was one of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders who took part in the Second World War and later brought back to life one of the armada of small boats (left) which took part in the evacuation of Dunkirk.
It came at great cost – around 13,415 allied troops were killed or wounded that day in order to secure freedom on the continent of Europe.
Mrs Frew said: “The last funeral service I conducted was for a 99-year-old woman who, on leaving school in the early years of the Second World War, went to work in the nearby munitions’ factory.
“She was there until the war ended, her teenage years spent making incendiary devices. War affects everyone.
“This Scottish National War Memorial, erected after the First World War, reminds us that it was everybody’s war.
“The books of names beneath the regimental memorials around us represent not just lives sacrificed but parents who lost a child, brothers and sisters who lost a sibling, husbands, wives and sweethearts who lost a partner and a future together, children who lost a parent, and friends who were not reunited.
“It’s bigger – it’s communities and workplaces missing a generation.
“The names recorded are just the tip of the iceberg.
“There are those who returned home but scarred physically, mentally, for whom life would never be the same again.
“As we look around we are reminded of the non-combatants – who died as a result of combat.
“Even the part played by animals and birds – the humble beasts.
“The stained-glass windows speak of day-to-day life changed by war, the familiar seasons of the year as lived in these strange far off days.
“In both world wars it wasn’t just women working in munitions factories, it was those in essential reserved occupations.
“It was women and men filling so many gaps, stepping up to the plate – defence. land army, nursing, the emergency services.
“It was blackouts and bomb shelters, air raids and destruction, families separated, evacuation and Mickey Mouse gas masks, rationing.
“This Scottish National War Memorial holds a very special significance for the people of Scotland.
“As the guidebook says, ‘Built by Scottish brains, Scottish hands, and Scottish money.’
“This year we’re remembering 80 years since the end of the Second World War.
“And Scottish lives have continued to be lost in other theatres of war in the years since, and are also recorded here, most recently in Afghanistan.
“And now, we’re seeing it again, close to home, in graphic detail thanks to 24/7, on the ground reporting.
“We’re experiencing again the knock-on effects of war, because war affects everyone.
“Rising costs. rising energy prices, food shortages, support and accommodation of refugees, geo-political tensions.
“Each year at the war memorials in my parish of Bowden and Melrose I say these words -‘we fall silent on this day because we never wish to forget or return to days where every family, every community is touched by the plague of war and death.
“In remembering the sacrifices made on our behalf, we are asked to be the change which our world so desperately needs.
“To that end, silence is not enough, it must be matched by our actions.
“Will you strive for all that makes for peace, will you seek to heal the wounds of war, will you work for a just future for all humanity?
“In answering “I will” may we build together a kingdom of peace.
“May we be the change our world so desperately needs.
“The whole circuit of the earth is girdled by graves and memorials, silent witnesses to the desolation of war – potent advocates of peace on earth.
“Jesus said, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.’
“Amen, may it be so.”
Top of page: The late Brigadier Alistair Pearson, of Gartocharn, was one of the UK’s most decorated soldiers and took part in the Normandy Landings.