e will never forget our WWI brethren, vows Orangeman

The gathering in Fivemiletown on Saturday afternoon involved a parade and an act of remembrance, with Orangewomen and members of the Junior Association joining the male brethren in paying their respects to the fallen of the First World War.

Grand Master Edward Stevenson was among those in attendance, and laid a wreath at the town’s war memorial.

Co Fermanagh Grand Master Stuart Brooker said: “It is important to remember those who gave their lives at the Somme a century ago, and I think it is fitting for us as Orangemen to do it in this way because we lost so many members in the battle.”

According to the Orange Order, an estimated 200,000 Orangemen from across the globe served during the Great War – many of them at the exceptionally bloody Battle of the Somme.

Co Tyrone Grand Master Jim Emery said: “We must never allow those soldiers to be forgotten.”