Seats available for Battle of Jutland service

People in Orkney are being offered the opportunity to take part in a special Service of Commemoration at St Magnus Cathedral marking 100 years since the Battle of Jutland.

The service, on Tuesday, May 31, is being held to pay tribute to those who served at Jutland and the wider war at sea during the 1914-18 conflict.

Jutland was the most significant naval engagement of the First World War, with over 100,000 sailors involved on 250 ships. More than 6,000 Royal Navy and 2,500 German sailors lost their lives.

Descendants of those who served at sea in the First World War have been invited to join commemoration events in Orkney.

An allocation of seats is also reserved for local residents who wish to join the cathedral service.

Karen Greaves, Orkney Islands Council’s head of leisure and lifelong learning, said: “People living in Orkney are invited to apply for tickets. To ensure the seats are allocated as fairly as possible, all applications will be entered in a public ballot. The successful applications will then be drawn at random.”

A leaflet with further information and application forms for seats at the cathedral is included today’s The Orcadian.

Full guidance and terms and conditions for the seat allocation process is available here.

The application forms can also be downloaded here.

Tickets are limited to one per applicant. If people require special assistance, they are asked to fill in an additional form for carers or chaperones. For those under 18, this form should also be used and filled in by an adult ‘lead applicant’.

Completed application forms should be returned to Orkney Islands Council Customer Services in Kirkwall, the Warehouse Buildings in Stromness or posted to Graeme Horne, Education, Leisure and Housing, Council Offices, School Place, Kirkwall, Orkney KW15 1NY.

The closing date is Monday, February 22, at 5pm.