Artefacts from a renowned museum in Belgium will feature in a series of exhibitions, which start this week, commemorating the remarkable human sacrifice of the Hebrides during the First World War.
From a population of less than 30,000 on Lewis alone, more than 6,500 island men saw service.
Some 1,151 men from the island's four parishes were killed on active service, around 17 per cent of those who left for war. It was one of the highest proportions of any community in the UK.
The death toll was no less severe across the rest of the Western Isles, however, with small communities bearing the harshest toll of the war and taking generations to recover.
The devastating impact of war on the small and fragile communities that were left behind, as well as recollections of what the men faced when they reached the front, will be detailed through photos, words and memorabilia.
The first event with material from the In Flanders Fields museum in Ypres will be opened at Lanntair arts centre in Stornoway on Friday by military historian Trevor Royle.
Later in the year, exhibitions will begin in North and South Uist. Some 367 men from the Uists and Benbecula, serving with Second Service Battalion of the Camerons in the Ninth Division, were killed in the opening days of the Battle of Loos in September 1915. Out of a total battalion strength of 800, only 72 men survived.
The exhibitions are part of the Call Of The Gael project being run by The Gaelic Arts Agency.
The initiative aims to discover and retell the stories of the island communities who experienced the devastating impact of the First World War more than most other areas.
Erica Morrison, chief executive of The Gaelic Arts Agency, said: "Every community in the UK and beyond has its own story to share about the impact of the First World War but few can be as moving and as stark as that of the Western Isles."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article