The Centenary of the Battle of the Somme

[baldy1926]

Coverage on BBC 2 of an event that changed our nation with the loss of so many in 1 day

[Crush]

Thanks for the heads up. We are researching the family history at the moment and my great grandfather was a Vickers machine gunner at the Somme. Sadly lost his legs due to trench foot but survived.

[baldy1926]

If you are on facebook there are plenty of helpful first world sites

[ClaphamGT3]

Both my great uncles fought on the Somme. Both were dead by 16th July.

RIP 2nd Lt William Hogg & Captain John Hogg

[Beati Dogu]

I had great uncles in both the British and Canadian Armies during WW1. Amazingly they all survived, despite injuries. I actually met one of them when I was a child. He had a silver plate in his skull and had had a bullet go straight through his forearm at an angle. He lived to the ripe old age of 93.

Incidentally, to honour the centenary of the Battle of the Somme, Ancestry.co.uk are allowing free access for 100 hours to military records on their website.

If you're interested in the history of WW1, I highly recommend the Great War channel on Youtube. They do an episode a couple of times a week reporting on the events that were happening exactly 100 years ago.

https://www.youtube.com/user/TheGreatWar

[baldy1926]

ClaphamGT3 said:

Both my great uncles fought on the Somme. Both were dead by 16th July.

RIP 2nd Lt William Hogg & Captain John Hogg

Theres a Capt James HOGG Died 24/09/16 from Glasgow is that the one?

[marcosgt]

Kate looked nice

One of the news readers described it as "one of the defining battles of WW1" and he was right.

Sadly, that meant it wasn't one of the deciding ones... What a horrible waste of life.

M.

[coopedup]

A tragic waste of life, R.I.P. May we never forget.

[nicanary]

I was briefly watching the vigil service last night in Westminster Abbey, and they had to have someone standing by the plaque over the grave of the unknown warrior, just to stop people walking over it! I saw one "worshipper" having to be guided away from inadvertently being an a***hole. How on earth can people be so crass and insensitive?

I'm gladdened that our nation is taking the time to pay its respects in the last few days. That battle was a defining moment in armed conflict. The aftermath of the Great War meant women got more respect and the vote, the working man got more respect and more of a say in things, and many stately homes fell into disrepair because there were no heirs left to take over when the owner died. A real turning point in British social history.