Events
Friday 1st July 2016
Battle of the Somme Commemorative Service
When
11am - 12.30pm
Friday 1st July 2016
Where
A Commemorative Service will be held in Derby Cathedral on Friday 1st July 2016 at 11.00 am; followed by a Remembrance Ceremony at the War Memorial on Derby Market Square at noon. These ceremonies are the county’s main remembrance of this Battle, and of all those who died or were injured in it.
In just four months of fighting, the British suffered around 420,000 casualties, the French 200,000 and the Germans 500,000 in the Battle of the Somme which started on 1st July 1916. Within the on-going commemorations of World War 1, this Battle is one of the most significant to be remembered. Many Derbyshire soldiers were killed in action; including 161 men of the 11th Battalion the Sherwood Foresters from this area.
The guest of Honour at the Service will be Brigadier Andrew Williams OBE, former Commander of the regional Army Brigade at Chetwynd Barracks, in the presence of HM Lord-Lieutenant, the High Sheriff of Derbyshire and Civic Heads from across the county.
