ILMINSTER NEWS: Battle of the Somme 100 years on – we will remember them

THE Ilminster branch of the Royal British Legion is commemorating the 100th anniversary of the first day of the Battle of the Somme with four banners sited in the town.

The banners can be found on the railings at the junction of Orchard Vale and Canal Way, by the Cadet Hut in Shudrick Lane, the Burma Star Garden at the junction of Winterhay Lane and Station Road, and the Minster churchyard overlooking Silver Street, which has been sponsored by Ilminster Town FC.

The banners went up on Monday (June 27, 2016) and will remain in place until Monday (July 4, 2016).

Branches of the Royal British Legion throughout the country will be marking today (Friday, July 1, 2016) with vigils, acts of remembrance and the blowing of whistles at 7.30am.

This was the time on July 1, 1916, when the artillery barrage ceased and the troops began their advance across no man's land towards the German trenches.

The Battle of the Somme was fought by the armies of the British and French empires against the German Empire and rages between July 1, 1916, and November 18, 1916, on both sides of the upper reaches of the River Somme in France.

It was the largest battle of the First World War on the Western Front – more than one million men were wounded or killed, making it one of the bloodiest battles in human history.

Records suggest that 40,000 British troops were wounded on that first day of the Battle of the Somme, while 20,000 were killed.

We will remember them.

PHOTO - ABOVE: The Somme 100 banner outside the Cadet Hut in Shudrick Lane, Ilminster.

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