Highlights Battle of the Somme 100

A very good evening from Thiepval in Northern France and welcome

to a programme of commemoration and remembrance of the First World

War on this the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme.

Earlier today and yesterday events have taken place to remember

the one million men killed, wounded or captured

in one of the bloodiest battles in our history.

It's been a day of remembrance as people reflect

on what happened here in these battlefields one hundred years ago.

I'm joined by three guests with a rich blend of knowledge

of the Great War and who have watched the commemorations

With me is former Cabinet Minister Baroness Shirley Williams,

whose mother, Vera Brittain, catalogued her own first hand

experiences of the Great War in Testament of Youth, and whose

uncle, Edward Brittain, was awarded the Military Cross

on the first day of the Battle of the Somme.

We have author and historian Richard Van Emden and the historian

A day of powerful emotion but uplifting, as people want to draw

positively, lessons from what happened a century ago. Yes, firstly

the amazing story of valour and courage that people showed in the

battle, on both sides. But also, I think it is important to recognise

that the Somme is the beginning of the process under which those of us

who had been involved or have got parents and others who were involved

in major wars, are beginning to talk more and more seriously about how

that becomes history, rather than current affairs. I think that's

going to be one of the most significant lessons of the First

World War and those who fought in it and lost others in it, can take, I

think, some credit in the fact that we have stumbled on towards,

hopefully, a better future. A better future because what we have done,

Richard is underline what happened 100 years ago. Not just in terms of

losses and suffering, but in terms of impact further afield. And that's

been a powerful reminder to people as well. Well, I think the Battle of

the Somme was a terrible Battle of Attrition. It was truly awful but it

opened the door militarily to Germany's defeat two years later.

The very fact that the Germans withdrew from the Somme back to the

Hindenburg Line, this newly-prepared position to shorten their lines,

showed they could no longer with stand the losses they sustained

here. So it was an awful battle. We know that 420,000 Britishmen,

200,000 Frenchmen fell or were wounded here but it wasn't all in

vain. For me, that's what I have taken from today, it wasn't just a

battle in which people died needlessly. It was for an end, and

in the end two years later it game it fruition with the defeat of

Germany. David, this in many ways, because we saw Francois Hollande and

David Cameron and the Prince of Wales, it was billed as a Franco

British event. However there were representatives of all kinds of

other nations here, underlining the fact that different parts of the

world, the Commonwealth, the empire as it was, played an important part.

A Franco-British affair but they were both empire, so we have

representatives from all of the form Ercol anies of those two empires. --

former colonies. And the clue is in the name, a world war and this

battle was fought by men from every continent. There were five French

divisions including French North Africans and West Africans, Indian

soldiers behind the line in the cavalry, Canadians, South Africans,

Newfoundlanders. This was a global battle in a global war. We talk

about the impact at home on families, Shirley, I'm thinking

particularly of you, you have a very rich documentation, given the

testament of youth. Tell us more about the impact on families and

communities. I think if I look at my own family in an extended way, there

was a kind of protective reaction on the part, particularly of my

grandmother, the older women in the family, who in a way simply couldn't

quite come to terms of the awful things acouldn't understand what

happened and piece together a picture of their children, both my

father and her mother were involved very much in the war which was based

on postcards, rumours, talks among neighbours but no close relationship

which is why I think my mother felt she had to become not only a nurse

but actually volunteer for foreign service, volunteer for the toughest

foreign service. The only way she could feel close to her brother and

their mutual friends, was by her - she once said in one of her books -

her mending the wounds that were inflicted or meant to be inflicted

by her brother and his friends and that seemed to her an extraordinary

irony. And Richard, with your conversations with hundreds of

veterans will prove this, is that the process of mending for lots of

people, simply didn't happen. Well, a lot of the veterans just buried

what they suffered here. You know, really deep in their souls. I have

met veterans who took 50, 60 years to mention what happened in these

fields here. Would not even tell their wives or children. And

frankly, a lot of them were never really mended. A will the suffered

for the rest of their livens ended up in institutions. -- a lot. The

last man who fought in the Great War, who died in an inTuesday, died

in 2002. He had been in there for 83 years. So they really did suffer

here in a way we really cannot fathom. A final word, David. People

who question the value of the importance of these events a century

later, the fact that there is a commemoration, an evernight vigil in

so many areas, what would be the answer to that? What happened here

was unique. Before the First World War, when there were mass dead,

there were mass graves. This was the first war in which every soldier was

guaranteed an individual grave. That, I think is a reflection of the

magnitude of what happened, the scale of the killing, rapidity of

the I will k the sacrifice of a generation. -- of the killing. We

remember this war differently because it was different. Thank you

for joining us today. There are no soldiers

of the Great War left alive today to describe their experience

of the Somme. But their voices and

words remain with us - recorded and published

during the course of With every passing

year, their powerful Here are some of the veterans

recalling their memories as they watched and waited

in the fields of The previous night at about

12pm, each dugout had And I thought to myself,

this looks to me like a sacrifice. I'm sure it was that night,

there was a terrific big red moon. And it was, it struck me

as, I can't explain. They were putting new men

in all the time and training them I think that everybody was a bit

dubious about it, you know. Before the attack, you couldn't

move in those trenches, They were grumbling and grouching

and some trying to be And then it goes quiet

and it's time to go. Powerful voices of the veterans of

the Somme taken from the archives at the Imperial War Museum.

In preparation for today's centenary anniversary,

vigils were held last night across the United Kingdom

Her Majesty the Queen led the National Vigil

Kirsty Young set the scene in London for us.

Her Majesty The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh -

The Battle of the Somme was an offensive by the British

and French against the forces of Germany.

The battle lasted almost five months.

No more than six miles of German-held territory

On all sides there were a million casualties, killed or wounded.

This evening, we seek to recall the experience of those

We shall remember that sacrifice and we shall pray that we may continue

to learn the lessons of history, to build a world at peace.

Luke Thompson will read an account by itnd lieutenant Buxton.

following the rise and fall of the downs.

It was indeed an immense and terrible sight, and it seemed

especially so when I turned around to see the beautiful

This was a view far more wonderful and dear in its beauty and peace,

and it seemed that, with all that wilful crashing and panting of guns,

it would remain for long a veiled vision to us,

in its full meaning and message of smiling peace, because it was all

so insecure while the passions and ambitions of men continued

The words of Jocelyn Buxton, killed in action leading his guns forward

The Bishop of London now gives the address.

The crosses in every village and town, and the cemeteries in France

bear witness to the heartbreak and disruption caused by the Great War.

Men of the Kitchener Army, organised battalions for whom the Somme would

be their first battle. The ceremonies tomorrow that will be

held are a map of what happened. The citizen volunteers going into action

for the first time rose from their trenches at Zero Hour and we shall

recall this moment, here, at 7.30, when the whistles blew. The men

advanced in steady formation, to the astonishment of the Germans, and

were ever-I where checked by uncut barbed wire and were shot down. It

will be for others to short the subsequent cause of the battle which

lasted until November. As we keep our vigil, by the graveside of the

unknown warrior, who represents all those who perished in the Great War,

it is for us to remember the fearful beginning of the Battle of the Somme

and to salute the courage and the sacrifice of those who went over the

top. # Then Jesus went with them

to a place called Gethsemane, # And he said to his disciples,

"Sit here, while I go yonder Our brains ache, in

the merciless iced east winds Wearied we keep awake

because the night is silent... Low drooping flares confuse our

memory of the salient O Lord of the nations,

giver of joy in every generation and faithful

companion to all who call upon thee: accept,

we beseech thee, our prayers through the

hours of darkness; hallow our remembrance

of those who, a century ago, gathered

on the Somme; bless all who keep vigil this

night, across this nation and in other

lands; and grant thy people comfort in time

of trial; for the sake of O God, who art the author of peace

and lover of concord, in knowledge of whom standeth our eternal life,

whose service is perfect freedom: defend us thy humble servants

in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in thy

defence, may not fear the power of any adversaries,

through the might of The First Watch now taking their

position in silent testimony to the And so, a simple, meaningful,

moving service. As the Queen and the Duke

of Edinburgh depart, As the Queen and the Duke

of Edinburgh depart... The First Watch continues the vigil

at the Grave of the Unknown Warrior. Four soldiers from across

the nation, facing outwards, and four civilians

facing inwards with heads bowed - of that truly terrible

day 100 years ago. And it wasn't just

in Westminster Abbey, services and vigils were held

in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland THE LADS in their hundreds to Ludlow

come in for the fair, # There's men from the barn and

the forge and the mill and the fold # The lads for the girls and

the lads for the liquor are there # And there with the rest

are the lads that will never be old # There's chaps from

the town and the field # And many to count

are the stalwart, and many the brave # And many the handsome of face

and the handsome of heart # And few that will carry their

looks or their truth to the grave # But now you may stare as you like

and there's nothing to scan # And brushing your elbow

unguessed-at and not to be told # They carry back bright to

the coiner the mintage of man # The lads that will

die in their glory 100 years ago tomorrow, at first

light, the British Army launched It was intended to put

unbearable pressure Most of those

who went over the top that day were wartime volunteers. Some, as young

as 16. but for others, the Somme was their

first experience of battle. By the end of the 1st of July,

the British Army had sustained almost 60,000 casualties,

of whom nearly one third had died. In the years to come,

it sometimes seems that with them, a sense of vital optimism

had disappeared forever It was in many ways the saddest day

in the long story of our nation. Tonight, we think of them

as they nerved themselves We acknowledge the failures

of European governments, including our own, to prevent

the catastrophe of world war. We offer our humblest respects

to each man who fought in the Battle of the Somme,

from every corner of the British Isles,

and from across the Commonwealth. We honour those whose names

are recorded on this memorial - more than 72,000 who have no known

grave, and to those who lie buried And tonight, we stand

here with a promise to those men. The gift you gave your country

is treasured by everyone The sacrifice you made will never,

ever be forgotten. Second Lieutenant Eric Rupert

Heaton, 16th Battalion, My darling Mother and Father,

Tomorrow we go to the attack in the greatest battle

the British Army has ever fought. I cannot quite express my feelings

on this night, and I cannot tell you if it's God's will that

I shall come through, but if I fall in battle,

then I have no regrets, save for my Private Albert Atkins,

7th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment. Imagine yourself, standing

in a trench with water well over your knees,

crouching against the side of the muddy trench,

while thousands of unseen shells There is a very slight

pause - then... it bursts with a tearing,

rumbling blinding crash, sending tonnes of earth into the air

to fall back on the inmates of the trench, and hurling thousands

of red-hot splinters in all directions, killing or

maiming all they happen to strike. And all around are men moaning

in agony or lying We were told by our officer

that we were to take part in the attack, and

the men were excited. Everybody thought it

would be a walkover. The bombardment was so heavy, and

the men were in excellent spirits. They were all volunteers,

and they were looking to beating the Germans,

and finishing the war quickly. No one believed there

could be a defeat. Everyone was eager,

and anxious to go forward. Captain Charles May,

22nd Battalion, Manchester Regiment. I must not allow myself to dwell

on the personal - there is no room If it be that I am

to go, I am ready. But the thought that I may never see

you or our darling baby again My one consolation is the happiness

that has been ours. Second Lieutenant Jack Engall,

1/16th Battalion Queen's I'm very proud of my section,

because it is the only section in the whole of the machine gun

company that is going over the top. So you can see that

I have cause to be proud. I have a strong feeling that I shall

come through this safely. But nevertheless, should it be God's

holy will to call me away, Lieutenant Thomas Barrett,

Seventh Battalion, Now don't worry because I shall

write as soon as I can. I have arranged for all my money

and things should anything happen I think this is all,

so will conclude with heaps of love. Remember always, I am only

doing my duty and this should make Eric Rupert Heaton, Charles May

and Jack Engall did not survive the first day

of the battle. Thomas Barrett was killed on the 4th

of July. Only Pat Kennedy and Albert Atkins

survived the war. So, as we prepare for our

moment of reflection, we will have the first of tonight's

28 Vigils, being mounted by five military personnel -

three from the UK Four of them will be

standing Vigil at the Stone The event is

being followed carefully by Prince Harry and by the Duke and Duchess of

Cambridge. Grantham of the Royal Horse

Artillery, whose great uncle George Henry Grantham served with the

Northumberland Fusiliers, and died at the age of 18 on the first day of

the battle. All servicemen representing

regiments We also have representatives

of the French Armed Forces. By all the glories of the day

And the cool evening's benison By that last sunset touch that lay

Upon the hills when day was done By beauty lavishly outpoured

And blessings carelessly received By all the days that I have

lived Make me a solider, By all of all man's hopes

and fears And all the wonders poets

sing By the romantic ages

stored With high endeavour

that was his By all his mad

catastrophes Make me a man,

O Lord I, that on my familiar hill

Saw with uncomprehending eyes A hundred of thy sunsets

spill Their fresh and sanguine sacrifice Ere the sun

swings his noonday sword During the war, the soldiers'

prayer, written by the chaplain 100 years ago, the words of this

prayer would no doubt have been a comfort to some of the men sat

in the trenches, contemplating They would have been

seeking inner strength. In the words of the prayer,

to think wisely, to speak rightly, to resolve bravely, to act kindly,

to live purely, to be blessed in body and in soul,

and to be a blessing As we keep our own Vigil this night,

as we remember with sorrow such great national and personal loss,

we offer our thanks for their courage, and we pledge

ourselves anew to live lives worthy Faithful God, you hear those

who call on you in trust Hear us, as we remember those

who fell in the roar of battle, and died in the mire and clay

of the trenches. Hear us as we remember those

who survived the battle but returned May the nations united today

in sorrow, find a single voice to sing a new song of peace,

hope and freedom, for the sake of Your world

and the advancement of Your kingdom. Their Royal Highnesses are leaving

the site. Meanwhile the vigil will continue throughout the night. Zero

Hour was marked at 7.30am, and the vigil here at Thiepval was brought

to an end. Commemorations continued at

Westminster aland outside. There was a reminder of the week-long

bombardmentment. Before the Battle of the Somme started.

Number 1, fire. Number 2, fire. Number 3, fire.

Those guns also marked the start, today of a national two minutes'

silence. We had been informed a huge mine

will be blown up at 7.30am and the great explosion would be to signal

over the top. We took up our position in a communication trench

leading to the front line. There we stood, rather silently, wondering if

we had much longer to liven suddenly brushing the ugly thought of death

away. Just as the waiting was becoming unbearable and the terrible

strain causing some men to utter, almost unnatural choice, we felt a

clear, dull,000 and our trench fairly rocked and a great blue flame

shot into the sky, carrying with it hundreds of tonnes of earth. A great

mine had gone up. It was 7.30, Zero Hour.

there were whistles blown across the UK, to signal the exact moment, 100

years ago, the then were set over the top. -- the then were sent over

the top. Events culminated today in France

with a Commemorative Service here in Thiepval -

the site of the huge British memorial built to remember

the 72,000 missing servicemen Held in the presence

of Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

and Prince Harry - all thoughts turned to the fateful events

of 100 years ago today Guard of Honour, turn. The heads of

state and Government, members of the Royal Family making their way

towards the though the value memorial for this commemorative

event, on the centenary of the first day of the Battle of the Somme.

-- the Thiepval Memorial. They make their way through the

memorial and will position themselves at the other side of the

cemetery where the guns will be taken and fired to start the event

itself. For four and a half months in 1916,

the fields around us saw one of the defining events

of the 20th century. The Battle of the Somme was one

of the most significant battles of the First World War,

yet it did not bring about an end to the war,

as the Allies had hoped. On 24 June 1916, in an attempt

to destroy German defences here on the Somme, British

and French guns began the largest artillery

bombardment in history. # They were summoned

from the hillside. # And the country found them ready

At the stirring call for men. # Let no tears add

to their hardships. # And although your

heart is breaking. At dusk on 1 July, as roll calls

were taken, the gravity of the losses became clearer,

but only later did the full scale of the British Army's casualties

emerge: nearly 60,000 casualties; of these, nearly one third were dead

or would die from their wounds. It was the greatest loss

of life in a single day Yet there was no question

of calling off the battle. The scale of the casualties required

unprecedented medical care. One volunteer nurse present

from the start of the battle was a schoolteacher called Olive

Dent. On and on we worked, forgetful

of time and remembering our own meal Whatever our hand found to do

on that memorable day and the four following days, we did

with all our might. Laughter, tears, immense

satisfaction and pleasure, immeasurable pain and disappointment

were commingled that day. I am too tired to sleep,

too tired to do anything but lie and look up at the wooden roof

of the hut, too tired to do anything and mind the passionate appeal

of two dying eyes and the low faint whisper of, "Sister,

am I going to die?" When British 'Tommies' went

over the top on 1 July, they were joined by 'Poilus'

from across France and its Empire. Already fighting a fierce battle

at Verdun, the French Army advanced at great cost to recapture many

villages on the Somme. # Pour le repos le

plaisir du militaire # Il est la-bas a

deux pas de la foret # Une maison aux murs

tous couverts de liere # Aux Tourlourous c'est

le nom du cabaret # Nous en revous la nuit

nous y pensons le jour. # Ce n'est que Madelon mais

pour nous c'est l'amour # Quand Madelon vient

nous servir a boire # Et chacun lui raconte une histoire

tonnelle on frole son jupon # La Madelon pour

nous n'est pas severe # Quand on lui prend

la taille ou le menton # Elle rit c'est tout

l'mal qu'elle sait faire Even at the height of the battle,

there were still moments of humanity Corporal Jim Crow, 110th Brigade,

Royal Field Artillery, describes a brief unofficial truce

on the front line. "One of our infantrymen

was on the German barbed We could see him moving

every now and again. In the end, Major Anderton

pulled his revolver out, climbed over the parapet,

walked straight to this man, He walked as though

he was on parade. The Germans never fired

a shot at him as he went, they never fired a shot as he went

back, and they cheered him as he lifted the man

on to his shoulders." One of the Great War poets,

a British working-class lad, Jewish, He was killed a year after writing

the following poem. It is the same old

druid time as ever Only a live thing leaps my hand,

A queer sardonic rat As I pull the parapet's poppy

To stick behind my ear Droll rat, they would

shoot you if they knew Now you have touched

this English hand You will do the same

to a German soon, no doubt If it be your pleasure to cross

the sleeping green between It seems you inwardly

grin as you pass Strong eyes, fine limbs,

haughty athletes Sprawled in the bowels of the earth,

the torn fields of France What do you see in our eyes

at the shrieking iron and flame Poppies whose roots

are in man's veins But mine in my ear is safe - just

a little white with the dust. Isaac Rosenberg was one of many

who wrote poetry to try to capture something of their experience

of the battle. Others wrote diaries

or letters home. An Eala Bhan, or The White Swan,

is a Gaelic love song by the poet Donald MacDonald,

who served with the Cameron Highlanders, composed

during the Battle of the Somme. It is addressed to his

sweetheart, Maggie MacLeaod. # Since I left the high misty hills,

heart seared by sorrow, # The beguiling glens

of loch, bay and strome, The high ground where we gather

today was eventually Lieutenant Tom Adlam VC

of the 7th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, proudly

described his men in action. His son Clive reads

a description of the action. They went like a bomb,

they really did. They all up and ran and we got

into our little bit of trench. I got a whole lot of bombs ready

and I started throwing them as fast We just charged up the trench

like a load of mad things. We never caught them,

but we drove them out. There was a job to be done

and you just got on and did it. I was more frightened

going up to the trenches, I was very frightened then -

very frightened indeed. You've got a group of men with you,

and you're in charge of them. We were taught we had to be

an example to our men, and that if we went forward,

they'd go with you, you see. And you sort of lose your

sense of fear, thinking Dear Captain Agius, I wish to take

this opportunity of thanking you for your kind letter

of sympathy, and for the few details you were able to give me

concerning my dear husband's death. The sad news was a terrible shock

to me, and, up till now, It was a great relief to know that

dear Harold did not suffer any pain, although what would I not give

to have had one last only five months -

and I cannot realise that he had gone -

never to see him again. The last time we were together,

he was so happy and well and eager to do his level best for his Country

at all cost. Will you please also

tell me, if possible, After the war, I hope to be able

to visit his last resting place. Like so many others,

Florence was never able to find her husband's

final resting place. Harold is commemorated

here on the Thiepval Memorial, one of over 72,000 with no known

grave: For the world's events have rumbled

on since those gagged days, Like traffic checked

while at the crossing of city-ways. And the haunted gap in your mind has

filled with thoughts that flow Like clouds in the lit

heaven of life; and you're a man reprieved to go,

Taking your peaceful share But the past is just the same -

and War's a bloody game. Look down, and swear by the slain

of the War that you'll never forget. Do you remember the

dark months you held the sector at Mametz - The nights

you watched and wired and dug Do you remember the

rats; and the stench Of corpses rotting in front

of the front-line trench - And dawn coming, dirty-white,

and chill with a hopeless rain? Do you ever stop and ask,

'Is it all going to happen again?' Do you remember that hour

of din before the attack- And the anger, the blind compassion

that seized and shook you then. As you peered at the doomed

and haggard faces of your men? Do you remember the

stretcher-cases lurching back With dying eyes and lolling

heads - those ashen-grey Masks of the lads who once

were keen and kind and gay? Look up, and swear by

the green of the spring that The writer John Masefield

travelled to the Somme wrote The Old Front Line a record

of the devasted landscape he Beyond the trees, on the other side

of the marsh, is the steep and high eastern bank of the Ancre,

on which a battered wood, called Thiepval Wood,

stands like an army of black But for this stricken wood,

the eastern bank of the Ancre is a gentle, sloping hill,

bare of trees. On the top of this hill

is the famous Schwaben Redoubt. One need only look at the ground

to know that the fighting here was very

grim, and to the death. All wars end; even this

war will someday end, and the ruins will be rebuilt

and the field full of death will grow food,

and all this frontier of trouble When the trenches are filled in,

and the plough has gone over them, the ground will not long

keep the look of war. One summer with its flowers

will cover most of the ruin that man can make, and these places,

from which the driving back of the enemy began,

will be hard indeed to trace, is a romance in memory,

the soldier looking for his battlefield will

find his marks gone. Centre Way, Peel Trench,

Munster Alley, and these other paths to glory will be deep under

the corn, and gleaners will sing # Abide with me; fast

falls the eventide; # The darkness deepens;

Lord with me abide. # When other helpers

fail and comforts flee, # Help of the helpless,

O abide with me. # Swift to its close ebbs

out life's little day; # Earth's joys grow dim,

its glories pass away; # Change and decay

in all around I see; # O Thou who changest

not, abide with me. # Hold Thou Thy cross

before my closing eyes; # Shine through the gloom

and point me to the skies. # Heaven's morning breaks,

and earth's vain shadows flee; # In life, in death,

O Lord, abide with me. They shall grow not old,

as we that are left grow old; Age shall not weary them,

nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun

and in the morning; Commemorations continued back home

in the UK and principally in the city of Manchester

where the National Commemorative Service was held in honour

of the thousands of men - many of whom were made up

of the Pals' regiments - These Pals Battalions

were the groups of friends, neighbours and colleagues

who volunteered and enlisted together in order they could serve

alongside each other. To pay tribute to these battalions -

many of whom came from towns and cities in the North - Manchester

hosted this afternoon's Then there followed a joint military

and civilian parade running from the Town Hall to Manchester

Cathedral. It was here at Manchester Cathedral

in the City Centre that the main event of the day took place,

the National Commemorative Service, In keeping with military tradition a

drum head Alistair was constructed. -- aloar was constructed.

# O God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come

From whichever part of the world you join us today, we are delighted to

welcome you to the city of Manchester for this National Service

to commemorate the Battle of the Somme, which began 100 years ago

today. Like so many towns and cities throughout our land, and much

further afield, Manchester made a pledge never to forget the myriad

number of people who responded to the battle call with a spirit of

generosity and sacrifice that empowers and inspires us still to

this present day. The station incline was lined with

spec haters. But this was nothing to the interior of the station itself.

Here were gathered the troops in khaki, and every moment, then number

increased. And here were gathered relations and friends, white-haired

fathers and gentle faced mothers, wives with smiles on their lips,

though there eyes word game with tears. Children have wondering what

it was all about. Abies being fondled and I'm conscious of the

reason why. Here was a stately old gentleman, walking proudly by the

side of his son. A second lieutenant. And here was a woman

with a shawl over her head, equally proud to be at the side of her

husband. The whistle-blowers, the stragglers, hurry along,

good-humouredly bumping into one another. And then, like magic, apps

either Brown colour has faded from our midst. Far down the platform, we

can see it still, a bobbing line of flat caps, and then that vanishes

also, and recently realised a long train is sinuously moving away. They

are off, cries of voice, and the sound is immediately drowned in a

wave of cheers and give the lads craning from the carriages shout and

wave their hands. And again, the sound grows faint. And the train

disappears. Another thousand gone. in memoriam. So you were David's

father and he was your only son. The work is left undone because of an

old man weeping, just an old man in painful stop for David, his son

David, that will not come again. Oh, the letters he wrote you. And I can

see them still. Not a word of the fighting, but just the sheep on the

Hill and how you should get the crops in before the year gets

stormier. And they have got his body. And I was his officer. You

were only David's father, but I had 50 sons when we went up in the

evening under the arch of the guns. And we came back at twilight... Oh,

God, I heard them called to me for help and pity that could not help at

all. Oh, never will I forget you, my men that trusted me, more that my

sons and your fathers, for they could only see the little helpless

babies and the young men in their pride. They could not see you dying

and hold you while you died. Happy and young and gallant,

They saw their first-born go, But not the strong limbs broken

And the beautiful men brought low, The piteous writhing bodies,

They screamed "Don't leave me, sir," For they were only your

fathers But I was your officer. The Somme transformed. William

under, a war artist, was on the Somme in 1916. Returning in 1917, he

found the landscape transformed, writing in 1921, he described the

scene. I had left it mud, nothing but water, shell holes and mud, the

most gloomy, dreary abomination of desolation the mind could imagine.

And now, in the summer of 1917, no words could express the beauty of

it. The dreary, dismal mud was baked white and pure, dazzling white. Blue

flower, great masses of them, stretched for miles and miles. The

sky, it pure dark blue and the whole air, up to about 40ft, thick with

butterflies. Your clothes were covered with butterflies. It was

like an enchanted land. But in the place of fairies, there were

thousands of little white crosses, marked, unknown British soldier, for

the most part. A reading from the holy Gospel

according to sink Matthew. When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up to

the mountain. And after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he

began to speak, and taught them, saying, blessed are the poor in

spirit. There is is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn,

for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit

the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

for they will be filled. The SID are the merciful, for they will receive

mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs

is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people revile you and

persecute you and at all kinds of evil against you falsely on my

account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.

# Many waters cannot quench love. # Neither can the flood drowned it.

# Many waters... During the anthem, 37 memory squares were taken to the

altar. They were created by members of the public, featuring regimental

symbols, dedicated of course to the people who took part in the Battle

of the Somme. The plan is to lay out the path at Heaton park in

Manchester. may God grant the living grace. To

the departed, rest. To the church, the Queen and the Commonwealth, and

all people, peace and concord. To all his servants, life everlasting.

And the blessing of God Almighty, the father, the son and the holy

spirit, be upon you and remain with you always.

And so the National Service of commemoration at Manchester

Cathedral, in the presence of His Royal Highness the Duke of York,

came to an end. That brings to a close our events

here in Northern France and across the United Kingdom,

100 years after the start of the Battle of the Somme - one

of the bloodiest battles in history and one of the defining battles

of the First World War. A century later, the scale

of the loss and suffering is still difficult to

fathom and to absorb. But with every

passing year, the act of remembrance becomes even more

necessary and justified. From the entire BBC team

in Northern France, thank