The Battle of the Somme

Dear Colleague,

The Legion will be active in commemorating the centenary of the Battle of the Somme between 1 July and 18 November at the national and community level.

A media release has gone out today with our full calendar of planned events to ensure that the Somme is commemorated appropriately. As well, our webpages have gone live at www.britishlegion.org.uk/Somme100 and www.thenma.org.uk/Somme100.

Activities include:

· 1 June – 18 July: Fields of Battle, Lands of Peace, a Legion-sponsored photo exhibition showing the healed but still battle-scarred fields of France, at London’s Guildhall.

· 30 June – 1 July: Vigils and services at Westminster Abbey, Thiepval Memorial in France and the National Memorial Arboretum. The Legion will play a role in events in Manchester, at the Welsh National War Memorial in Cardiff, and the Clandeboye Estate in Bangor, County Down.

· 2 July – 18 November: The Legion will lead midday Acts of Remembrance at the Thiepval Memorial, while a calendar of Legion activities at the NMA will include daily services, a replica of the trenches and a participative art installation.

· 18 November: Sunset services at Thiepval and the NMA will bring the Somme commemorations to a close.

The Somme’s losses were felt particularly keenly at the local level. The Somme saw the first widespread use of ‘Pals battalions’ which had been raised in towns, workplaces, and sports clubs. The young men who joined up together, trained together, and fought together, sadly often also fell together, leaving entire communities bereft.

To encourage communities to deliver local events in their own way, we have prepared a comprehensive First World War-themed toolkit, Remember the Battle of the Somme 1916-2016.

Available by download or through the post in a themed presentation box, it contains the Act of Remembrance; readings, Somme poetry, soldiers’ diaries and letters. There is a concise history of the Somme written for the Legion by Prof Sir Hew Strachan, the Legion Standard, a souvenir “1916” newspaper, a box of poppy petals for scattering, and much more.

We have also developed Remember the Somme with Dan Snow and The Royal British Legion, an app for tablet and mobile phone that will be available to download from 09 May free of charge at iTunes and Google Play.

We trust these products will be helpful as the UK remembers the sacrifices of a century ago, mindful also that the important work of the Legion continues to this day.