To mark 100 years since the Battle of the Somme, 15 memorials across the country including Bradford’s have been listed or upgraded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on the advice of Historic England.
The first day of the battle, 1 July 1916, is known as the worst day in the history of the British Army as nearly 60,000 British men, all volunteers, were killed, wounded or listed as missing.
The Somme ended on 19 November 1916; by then there had been over 400,000 British casualties for a maximum advance of only 8 miles. Bradford’s War Memorial has now been listed as Grade II and in all, nearly 37,000 Bradford men served in the First World War in all theatres, of whom c5,000 were killed. A high proportion of these casualties were suffered by the city's two Pals battalions during the Battle of the Somme.
The Bradford Pals formed part of the West Yorkshire Regiment and on 1 July 1916 they took part in action on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. At 7.30 on that morning 2,000 young men from Bradford left their trenches and by the end of the first hour of the battle 1,770 of them had either been killed or injured.
In Leeds Buglers are set to sound to commemorate the exact moment troops went over the trenches at the start of the Battle of the Somme 100 years ago.
The poignant tribute to the fallen will take place on July 1 at 7.30am and is part of a programme of commemorative events organised by Leeds City Council and a host of other organisations and groups across Leeds to mark the centenary of the battle.
The buglers will be stationed at a number of city centre locations, including the Victoria Gardens War Memorial, Civic Hall, the top of Briggate, Leeds Minster, Dortmund Square and City Square.
The gathering at the Victoria Gardens War Memorial will be attended by Cllr Judith Blake, leader of Leeds City Council. Also in attendance will be representatives from Leeds’s twin cities Lille and Siegen.
Buglers will also play at a number of locations outside the city centre include Bramley War Memorial, Morley Town Hall and Headingly Cenotaph.
The Battle of the Somme resulted in the worst losses of British Army personnel during the First World War, and was one of the bloodiest battles in human history.
The battle included soldiers from Leeds serving with a number of units. The local volunteer battalion the Leeds Pals was hit especially hard.
Of the 750 members of The Leeds Pals who fought that day, just 72 were uninjured by nightfall.
Councillor Judith Blake, leader of Leeds City Council said:
“The sounding of the bugles on the 1 July will mark the centenary of the start of the Battle of the Somme, a pivotal point in our history where great sacrifices were made on the battlefields of Europe and here on the home front.
“I encourage residents of Leeds to take the opportunity to pay their respects and find out about the history of our city through these commemorative events.”
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