SCOTS have joined the rest of the UK in silence to remember the nation's war dead and reflect on the sacrifices made by servicemen and women as £22,500 is to be spent on restoring three war memorials in the west of Scotland.

Peace and quiet descended on shopping centres, airports, in offices, and other public areas during a two-minute silence on Armistice Day yesterday, which marks the end of hostilities in the First World War 95 years ago at 11am.

Former military personnel and their families joined in the commemorations at the Garden of Remembrance in Edinburgh. There was also a poignant ceremony at a new memorial stone which was unveiled just inside the main entrance to Glasgow's Central Station. It is dedicated to railway staff who died in the Second World War and subsequent conflicts.

The new stone has been designed by Professor Dugald Cameron, a former head of the Glasgow School of Art.

It sits beneath the bronze memorial to the Great War at the Gordon Street entrance, has been commissioned to provide a lasting tribute to those who fought in the many conflicts following the Second World War.

Erskine held a service at its Edinburgh home.

A piper played as wreaths were laid at the home's memorial stone following two minutes of silence.

At the veterans' charity's home in Renfrewshire, veterans, staff and visitors gathered around the home's memorial stone to pay tribute to their armed forces colleagues and to remember those who had given their lives in service.

Wreaths were laid by local ­dignitaries and on behalf of the staff and residents of the charity.

Wreaths were also laid at nearby Bishopton Cemetery, where many Erskine veterans have been buried.

Lieutenant Colonel Steve Conway said: "This special time allows us all to remember our armed forces and those who have given their life in service; the wreaths laid across Erskine will remember them, and the many Erskine veterans who have passed away over the past year."

It came as First Minister Alex Salmond announced that sites in East Dunbartonshire and Renfrewshire have been awarded £22,500 from the £1 million Centenary Memorials Restoration Fund.

New Kilpatrick Church in Bearsden will receive £9107 worth of repairs to a memorial damaged by graffiti and eroded by weather.

A memorial in Elderslie, Renfrewshire, will have poor historic work and faded inscriptions repaired with help from a £6005 grant. The build-up of dirt and the damaged ironwork at a memorial in nearby Bridge of Weir will be tackled with £7461.

Mr Salmond said: "Scotland's war memorials are a lasting tribute to fallen servicemen and women and it is hugely important they are maintained.

"We owe it to the names inscribed on these memorials as well as the families they've left behind to keep monuments in a proud condition, reflecting the respect they deserve.

"War monuments play a central role in educating our young people about the ultimate sacrifice members of their community have paid to safeguard our way of life and our freedom throughout the generations.

"This year holds particular significance as it is the last before next year's centenary of the outbreak of the First World War."

He said that Scotland, like many other nations, suffered an "appalling loss of life" in the Great War. Mr Salmond added that its effects on Scottish life were "profound and long-lasting" making this year's Remembrance especially poignant in the run-up to next year's events to mark the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the Great War.

Elsewhere, the Duke of ­Edinburgh led tributes to fallen troops in Ypres in Belgium and a wreath-laying ceremony at the National Armed Forces Memorial attended by the last surviving widow of the First World War.

The duke attended the Last Post ceremony and viewed the collection of soil from Flanders Fields for a new memorial garden at the Guards Museum in London, which will mark next year's 100th anniversary of the Great War.