Richard Dunning, owner of the Lochnagar Memorial Crater

President Ian introduced and welcomed Richard Dunning to the meeting.

The Lochnagar Crater Memorial is privately owned, having been purchased by Richard on July 1st 1978. It is supported by the Friends of Lochnagar who give generously of their time, effort and money to help maintain it.

After reading about the crater almost 40 years ago whilst on a trip to America, Richard set off to find it. He was so moved by the awesome sight that he decided to try to purchase the crater in order to preserve it. After several years he managed to do so and to this day has never revealed the price, quoting “ It was a perfect price for a hole of its size and condition”.

Richard explained the battle scenario and gave an interesting insight into the construction of the mines, devised to destroy strong points in the German lines. The Lochnager mine was loaded with 27 tons of explosive, and when it blew on the attack of 1^st July 1916, it was the largest man made explosion and was even heard in England.

The crater is almost 300ft (91m) in diameter and 70ft (21m) deep and each year on the anniversary of July 1st a Remembrance Ceremony is held there. The common aim is to preserve it for future generations. It is now a poignant Garden of Remembrance, created to commemorate the gallant men and women of all nations who suffered in the Great War.

Richard stated that Lochnagar plays a unique role for all those who are drawn to visit the battlefields of the Great War. People who stand on the lip for the first time, including the thousands of young people, instinctively understand the fearsome power and destruction of modern warfare and, in reading the many evocative memoirs of the soldiers themselves, the terror and vulnerability of those who experienced it.

No profit has, nor ever will be made from Lochnagar.

Vice President Gorden Bulter thanked Richard for a very interesting, informative and moving talk.