A WREATH-LAYING ceremony was held atop Dumyat on Sunday, as veterans and volunteers came out in force to pay their respects.

The event marked the 76th anniversary, to the day, that General Fortune gave the order to surrender at St Valery.

In the weeks before that, however, his men in the gallant 51st Highland Division who held back the German forces, allowing thousands to escape at Dunkirk.

In tribute, Wee County man David Gray arranged for veterans and fellow volunteers to pay their respects at the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders memorial on top of Dumyat.

Along with a wreath to the Highland Division, the group commemorated a plaque which honoured the “bravery and sacrifice” of the 51st who “stood their ground and gave their all” to protect their fellow soldiers, during some of the most intense fighting of the war.

David, of Blackgrange, told the Advertiser: “We were truly faces in mist; it was almost as if they were in there in force that day to see what we were up to.

“There was no minister, no officers, just the guys for the guys. We covered the hills with flags and got as many of the boys up as we could.

“We all know about Dunkirk, and everything the navy and the fishermen did, but it would never have happened had it not been for these guys.

“We went up there, on the same day as the surrender, to pay our respects. We don’t want anyone to forget what the 51st did, the sacrifices they made. It was Scottish soldiers at their best.”

David’s dad was one of the men captured on June 10, 1940. After the war, David Snr returned home and laid the original foundation for the badge that David Jnr recently replaced.

David added: “We just wanted to make a good day of it. So long as I am still living, I’ll keep making the effort.”