The Somme Remembered

100 years on.

Chris was up at church this morning ringing the bell for remembrance at 7.30am and even on our morning walk we had two minutes silence. How little is that to give after all that sacrifice 100 years ago.

Chris and I went up to the Trinity church in Wilsden for coffee. They are holding a two day commemorative event and have knitted or crocheted 1,770 poppies to represent the members of the Bradford 'Pals' who died on that first day.

Many of the early casualties were from the West Yorkshire 'Pals' battalions from Bradford, Leeds, Barnsley and Sheffield, now in South Yorkshire, who were the first battalions to go 'over the top' on that fateful day. Apparently a quarter of all the losses on the Somme came from this area.

They have done a great job with some excellent archive material inside the church on display too.

I bought a couple of tickets to go to a 'magic lantern show' they are holding tonight of Atky's Story, a WW1 soldier from Wilsden, accompanied by a musical sing along of songs from the era.

Lest we forget.