This weekend volunteers including soldiers and ex-soldiers of the Gordon Highlanders will be taking part in a 'Life in the Trenches' exhibition, bringing to life the experience of Scottish Soliders. During the great war The Gordon Highlanders regiment saw 30,000 killed, missing and wounded. Using displays of photographs and postcards as well as items such as gas masks, shrapnel fragments and helmets. Volunteers will re-enact the roles of both soldiers and nurses on the front line.

kilted soliders

Scott Neil, events coordinator at the museum, said: "For many Scottish soldiers, the kilt caused its own problems, often getting caught on barbed wire and with pleats that provided a home for lice." however Scottish soilders didn't want to part with their traditions, as Dave Clarke a History teacher and group member explains -

"There were various attempts to put the Highland soldiers into trousers but it was extremely unpopular," he said. "Despite the cold, despite the lice, despite the fact it captured on barbed wire, the kilt was an iconic image the soldiers were proud of and they wished to retain them. When you see them up to their knees in mud and filth and slush, the vast majority would have been wearing nothing under the kilt."

The event takes places on the 7 and 8 August at the National War Museum