A TIME TO REMEMBER

[Mark]

A quiet moment I think is worthy from all of us

 

 

The Last Post will sound across the UK and on the battlefields of the Somme this week to mark the 90th anniversary of one of the bloodiest moments in British history.

 

The Prince of Wales will lead members of the royal family and politicians to Northern France for official commemorations of the 1916 battle next weekend as events take place on both sides of the Channel.

 

On July 1, 1916 - the first day of the Battle of the Somme - almost 20,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers were killed.

 

The scale of the carnage on a 25-mile front north and south of the River Somme, which lasted into the autumn of 1916, will be starkly illustrated in one of the commemorative events in the town of Albert, behind what was once the front line.

 

A marathon act of remembrance, during which the names of all Allied and German soldiers killed at the Somme will be read out, is expected to last 25 hours, starting on Friday.

 

Up to 10,000 people are expected at the main British commemoration ceremony at the nearby Thiepval monument next Saturday and thousands more will attend a string of smaller commemorations across the Somme region.

 

In the run-up to the main commemorations, Albert will be the setting for First World War parades with exhibitions, film and light displays illuminating the battlefields over a distance of 20km.

 

British involvement will include a five-day commemorative march along the front-line from June 26 to 30 organised by the National Army Museum in London.

 

On June 30 civic leaders from Leeds will be present at the unveiling of a new memorial to the men of the "Leeds Pals" in the town of Bus les Artois.

 

At precisely 7.30am French time on Saturday - exactly 90 years after "zero hour" when thousands finally went over the top from their trenches, church bells will sound across 60 towns and villages in the battlefield region.

 

At the same time wreaths will be laid at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Westminster Abbey in a ceremony organised by the Western Front Association.

 

In Accrington, Lancashire, a town which produced its own "pals" battalion, a procession and wreath laying service will herald the beginning of a day of commemorative events including an art installation made up of film from the First World War and clips of local veterans now dead.

 

[ArtistsRifles]

Definitely.

[LeeEnfield]

Least We Forget,.................

 

What passing bells,for those who die as cattle ?

Only the monstrous anger of the guns.

Only the stuttering rifle's rapid rattle,

Can patter out their hasty orisons.

No mockeries for them from prayers or bells,

Nor any voice of mourning, save the choirs, -

The shrill,demented choirs of wailing shells;

And bugles calling for them from sad shires.

 

 

What candles may be held to speed them all ?

Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes,

Shall shine the holy glimmers of good - byes.

The pallor of girl's brows shall be their pall;

Their flowers,the tenderness of silent minds,

And each slow dusk, a drawing - down of blinds.

 

Wilfred Owen.

 

 

At the going down of the sun,

And in the morning,............

 

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

 

[Degsy]

Well said.

I believe there is a programme about 'the Somme' on Sunday evening. I think it's on ITV but no doubt somebody can post up correct details.

[Enigma]

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM

[CanadianScottish]

I have just returned fron the Somme, where along with another IMPS member, we provided 2 Dodges as support vehicles to the Somme March.

It has been the most moving experience of my life.

 

Lest We Forget.

[Enigma]

I have just returned fron the Somme, where along with another IMPS member, we provided 2 Dodges as support vehicles to the Somme March.

It has been the most moving experience of my life.

 

Lest We Forget.

 

 

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