PIPERS across Scotland are being invited to join a poignant tribute to thousands of Scots who were killed or captured during the “Forgotten Dunkirk” 80 years ago.

The battle of Saint-Valery-en-Caux is being remembered by three Scots armed forces charities, and pipers are being asked to play a leading role.

On June, 12, 1940, days after the successful mass evacuations at Dunkirk, thousands of British troops remained on continental Europe under French command, most of them from the 51st Highland Division. They fought for 10 days keeping the German advance at bay against overwhelming odds, until eventually they were surrounded at St Valery.

A combination of fog and the proximity of German artillery above the town prevented the awaiting flotilla of ships from reaching the shore. The thousands who were not killed in the fierce fighting, or fell to their deaths from the cliffs trying to escape, were captured and marched hundreds of miles to prisoner of war camps in Germany and occupied Poland, where they endured appalling conditions for five long years.

At 10am on June 12 this year, pipers up and down Scotland will take to their doorsteps and play the haunting pipers march Heroes of St Valery. Pipers, and other musicians, of all ages and abilities, are being invited to download the sheet music and learn the piece.

Legion Scotland, Poppyscotland and RCET: Scotland’s Armed Forces Children’s Charity have joined forces to organise the tribute, which will also include online learning resources

for young people, virtual tributes and a campaign to fund their vital work, which the public is being asked to support.

The first piper to sign up was Pipe Major Ben J Duncan from The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Pipes & Drums, who previewed the Heroes of St Valery outside Edinburgh Castle at the weekend. Duncan, who is based at Leuchars and lives in Edinburgh, said: “As soon as I heard about the plans for the 80th anniversary of St Valery I wanted to get involved.

“While the country may still be in lockdown, this is a great way for such a significant but little-remembered event in our history to be commemorated.

Brigadier Charles Grant, a retired British Army officer and historian of the 51st Highland Division website, said: “The Division – initially about 20,000 strong – had been detached from the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and from June 4 were conducting a fighting withdrawal west from the Somme under French command.

“Part of the Division got to Le Havre and escaped but the rest were cut off and surrounded at the little fishing town of St-Valery-en-Caux. Not unlike Dunkirk, a flotilla of merchant ships and small vessels were despatched from British ports, but the weather and German artillery meant evacuation was impossible.

“There can hardly have been a town, village or hamlet in the Highlands and beyond not directly affected. While events such as Dunkirk, D-Day and VE Day are rightly commemorated, it is time the memory of those who fought and fell at St Valery are remembered in a national tribute for the first time.”

To register interest in taking part, and to access the sheet music, visit www.poppyscotland.org.uk/st-valery