Nantwich students attend Battle of Somme memorial event

Young and old alike in Nantwich joined to remember those killed 100 years ago at the start of the Battle of the Somme.

Many attended official services, with some students honoured to attend the National Memorial Arboretum event.

A service was held at the War Memorial on Nantwich town square with the Mayor of Cheshire East, Cllr Olivia Hunter leading tributes to the fallen from the First World War battle.

There was a speech by the Lord Lieutenant of Cheshire, David Briggs MBE, and a musical performance by Nantwich Young Voices.

There were poetry readings by Head Girl and Head Boy at St Oswald’s CE Primary School, Olivia Palin and Logan Brooke.

And there was a short Service of Remembrance led by Associate Rector of St Mary’s Nantwich, Rev Stephen Snelling.

The ceremony was attended by representatives from the Royal British Legion, Cheshire Regiment Association, Cheshire East Council and members of the public.

Meanwhile, students and staff from Malbank School and Sixth Form College, were invited by the National Memorial Arboretum to participate in their Battle of the Somme memorial event.

The students (pictured, below) gathered around the memorial at 7.30am for the two-minute silence, broken by the shrill of 250 whistles, marking the exact moment the order to go ‘over the top’ was made.

The students then participated in the Somme En Mass art project before being given a guided walking tour of the site.

Sarah Vaughan, Head of History, said: “We all thought it was fascinating to learn about the individual tales of heroism as well as to see memorials commemorating the lives of so many.

“Particularly poignant was the “Shot at Dawn” memorial.”

The Battle of the Somme began at 7.30am on July 1 1916 and is the single bloodiest day in British military history.

The British Army suffered 57,540 casualties that day, of which more than 19,000 were killed.

The Thiepval Memorial, on the site of the battlefields in northern France, contains the names of 73,357 soldiers who fell on the Somme, including many from Cheshire East area.

(Pics by Jonathan White)