Scottish National War Memorial
Our climb eventually brought us to the Upper Ward where we stood in Crown Square. We were surrounded by history. This building is dedicated to the many, many Scots that fell defending the British Empire. It was almost a holy shrine. Inside there were a number of alcoves each dedicated to a different Scottish regiment. Each one of the alcoves featured a Role of Honour which listed those in the regiment that fell in combat. Each of these alcoves bore the name of a unit that I knew quite well as a fan of military history: The Royal Scots Fusiliers, the Glasgow Highlanders, the Black Watch, the Royal Navy, the Royal Air Force, the Scottish Rifles, the Cameronians, the Royal Scots, the Scots Guards, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, the Lothians and Border Horse, and the Gordon Higlanders. The Memorial honors the Dead of the First World War up until the present, but many of these Scottish regiments are names I knew from the Napoleonic Wars and even the American Revolution.
Great Britain, the dominant industrial and maritime power of the 19th century, played a leading role in developing parliamentary democracy and in advancing literature and science. At its zenith, the British Empire stretched over one-fourth of the ear... ... read more 
