Two years in the makingTen minutes in the destruction –

That was our history.John Harris

Covenant with Death

The Battle of the Somme1st July to the 18th November 1916

Nearly 450,000 casualties (killed, wounded or missing.)

Over 57,000 casualties on the first day

Who fought the battle?On the British side – ‘the men of 1914’

Those who responded to the famous call –

Where did these men come from?They represented a cross section of British

society – they were men who came from

Town, city and countrysideEngland, Scotland, Wales, IrelandIndustrial and clerical Farming and ManufacturingUpper, middle and lower classesA variety of ages, from 14 to 45.

The ‘Pals’ battalions

These were groups of men mainly from the Northern Industrial towns who joined up in groups –

those who worked together, attended the same church, lived in the same street...

In 1915 they trained together in the same camps, and many were killed together in 1916, they became part of

...the Lost Generation...

The Thiepval Memorial

150,000 soldiers were killed on the Somme73,000 have no known grave and are

commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial

The CommemorationsThe 73,000 soldiers commemorated died on

the Somme battlefields between July 1915 and March 20th 1918.

A large proportion of the names are from the first few days of the battle of the Somme.

Every regiment and corps of the British army are represented.

Every rank from Private soldier to Brigadier- General is recorded.

The London Regiment has the greatest number of names recorded – 4,340