Costa Blanca North • Issue No. 2023 • 11 - 17 April 2024
The Ghost Pipers FREE
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Credit: Denia Council, X
Anna Akopyan THE Ghost Pipers of the Somme marched the streets of Denia to the sound of live bagpipes and the colours of the Scottish flag, commemorating their ancestors lost to the First World War. On April 5, the centre of Denia united the community in the streets where native music, costumes and flags were exhibited to honour the soldiers who lost their lives in the Battle of the Somme during the First World War. With the collaboration of Denia’s Culture Department and the Denia-Fane Ouverture Francophone Association, the day was marked to remember some of the bravest Scottish and Irish soldiers who fought in the Battle of the Somme and who after the war had to rebuild their lives in France. Traditional Irish hymns swayed the town, performed live by the French band made up of descendants of the courageous Scottish and Irish soldiers. The 1916 Battle of the Somme, fought by the British Empire and the French Third Republic against the
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The Ghost Pipers in Denia.
German Empire, marked one of the largest and most tragic war losses in all human history. The consequences of the Battle resulted in British soldiers relocating to France and played a large part in creating diversity in the French population. To this day, families whose ancestors had witnessed the terrors of the War, continue to pay tributes to the
cultural heritage, strength and unity of the British and the French nations. With Denia being a town which not only holds Spanish citizens, but many of whom include the Scottish, the Irish, and the French, the event gathered the international community to uplift and honour the tragic past, to never be repeated. The mayor of Denia, Vicent Grimalt, spoke out on
the event on X: “When the ghost of a possible third world war is being discussed again on TV today… MEMORY.”
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