In the Great War many more Orcadians joined the infantry regiment the Seaforth Highlanders than any other.  That service cost the lives of no less than 171 Orcadians who died serving in the Seaforths, nearly a third of all those who died in the conflict.  The first Orcadian Seaforth Highlander to die was Edwin Barnett of Kirkwall, who had joined up in response to Kitchener's appeal for volunteers.  Today is the centenary of Edwin's death, aged 29, from wounds received while in a working party in trenches close to the French-Belgian border on 8th August 1915.  Details can be read in a Word document biography added to the Kirkwall section of the website, or in a pdf downloaded direct using the link below.