D-Day tribute shows you have to defend peace – Angus Robertson

The commemorative events marking the 75th anniversary of D-Day have come to an end. From the pomp and circumstance in Portsmouth, to the 300 veterans who revisited the Normandy beaches, and the Scottish veterans honoured at the French consulate in Edinburgh, it has been tremendously moving.

D-Day veteran Harry Read befriended a German veteran during the coommemorative events. Picture: PA

I was particularly touched by the meeting of British veteran Harry Read of the Lancashire Parachute Battalion with German veteran Paul Golz, who served with the 91st Air Landing Division of the Wehrmacht. Mr Read said: “I’m so glad to see you and to hold your hand and say bless you. We are partners. Once we were on a different side, but we are partners together in the rebuilding of the world.”

Golz, who was a PoW in Scotland said: “Look at the cemeteries. The people died for us. Now we have peace for 75 years long. Keep the peace. God bless you . . . now we are friends.”

For people like me who have relatives conscripted to fight on opposing forces in Europe’s wars it is especially poignant.

My ancestors were called up to fight on both sides of the Napoleonic Wars, the First World War and Second World War. I have relatives that died in the Peninsular War, sered in the Great War forerunner of the RAF and in the futile last defence of the Remagen bridge over the Rhine.

After centuries of conflict we should listen to Harry Read in Normandy who said to Paul Golz: “Now we are brothers”. Peace can never be taken for granted. It is worth defending.

We’re having a ball watching Claire

It’s been a long wait to see Scotland’s footballers at an international competition. Just qualifying for the World Cup has been a triumph in itself, and for our women’s team it’s the first time ever.

Our opening match against highly-rated England team was definitely a game of two halves, with the Auld Enemy dominating the first and the Scots battling back in the second. After England took a 2-0 lead it looked bleak for the Scottish women, until winger Claire Emslie pulled one back.The former Hibs player, who is now with Orlando Pride, scored the first ever goal for the Scotland side at a Women’s World Cup.

Claire, who was born in Edinburgh and raised in Penicuik, gave the team self belief and for a time at the end of the game there were chances for a draw. The World Cup campaign still has some way to go but Claire Emslie has already been immortalised on the Edinburgh landscape, featuring on a huge mural on the side of The Biscuit Factory in Leith.

We wish her and the rest of the team well as they prepare for their next Group D matches against Japan and Argentina. Scotland is in a tough group, but there is still a chance to progress to the knockout stages. Let’s get behind Scotland’s women. Come on Scotland!