Hundreds pay respects to 20,000 Brit soldiers killed on first day of Battle of the Somme

Hundreds of people gathered early this morning to pay their respects to the 20,000 British soldiers who died on the first day of the Battle of the Somme - 109 years ago today.

They arrived at the huge Lochnager crater - situated in the heart of the Somme region where the battle started. At precisely 6.28am UK time the service began - the moment the first bomb was detonated under Germanlines.

Among them was 15-year-old schoolboy Ronnie Price. He sat a GCSE mock in history at his school in Borehamwood, Hertsyesterday and will be back for his physics exam tomorrow. "It's just really important to be here to pay our respects to these men who died 109 years ago today," he said alongside his dad Darren.

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Those present, including children, symbolically blew whistles, the signal for soldiers to “go over the top” and advance on the German lines, only to be mown down. Despite the searing heat touching 30 degrees there were hundreds of all nationalities paying their respects.

July 1st 1916 was the bloodiest day in the history of the British Army. By sunset 20,000 British troops lay dead on the battlefield. Tens of thousands more were wounded. More men died on the first day of the Battle of the Somme than the total casualty numbers (of both sides) at the Battle of Waterloo.

It was a scene recalled in the iconic final episode of the TV show Blackadder. Trustee Julie Thomson thanked those attending addressing them in English, French and German: "welcome, bienvenue, wilkommen. Thank you for gathering with us today as we remember and reflect on events here 109 years ago. “

She said: “The sound of the whistles and the solo piper playing so beautifully, are evocative reminders of that sunny Saturday morning when so many lives were changed or lost forever and the echoes of that grief and loss reverberate today. We all feel it in some way. It is why we are here. This very visible wound of war reminds us all of their sacrifice and gives us an opportunity to strive for peace in all our lives. In our own way, we can all “do our bit.”

At the end of the ceremony a Tiger Moth plane from the WW1 Aviation Heritage Trust flew over the Crater, dropping seeded paper which have poems written on them by school children.” Julie also read a message from Lochnager legend, and owner, Richard Dunning who sadly could not be here due to ill health.

He said: “Where we stand silently is known as the bloodiest square mile on the Western Front, and the site of some of the most intense suffering and loss of that war. Countless visitors come each year to stand in respect and remembrance before this awesome wound on the battlefield. But Lochnagar is a different kind of memorial. Yes, we are drawn together by a common sense of purpose: a sacred duty to honour the memory and sacrifice of the fallen of all nations.

“But we ask something more; that when we leave, we share with those we meet that profound compassion and fellowship that drew each of us here today. So that this place may become an everlasting symbol of forgiveness and reconciliation. That is the true mission of Lochnagar. And finally, may the unique, healing peace of this special place be with each of you today, and all days.” What happened on that day 109 years ago was captured for posterity by British pilot Cecil Lewis.

Lewis, whose aircraft was hit by lumps of mud thrown up by the explosion.later described the early morning scene in his 1977 book Sagittarius Rising. "We were over Thiepval and turned south to watch the mines. As we sailed down above all, came the final moment. Zero! At Boisselle the earth heaved and flashed, a tremendous and magnificent column rose up into the sky. There was an ear-splitting roar, drowning all the guns, flinging the machine sideways in the repercussing air. The earthly column rose, higher and higher to almost four thousand feet.

"A moment later came the second mine. Again the roar, the upflung machine, the strange gaunt silhouette invading the sky. Then the dust cleared and we saw the two white eyes of the craters. The barrage had lifted to the second-line trenches, the infantry were over the top, the attack had begun.”

109 years on the sheer tragedy of that day is still being remembered.