Remembering the Somme 1916 - 100 Years On
The British Army's blackest day
The year 2016 marks the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme, so the choice of tour this time around was an obvious one to make, and we’ll be heading to northern France in April.
The main focus of the tour will be the disastrous First Day of the Somme, following the line of the attacks on 1st July 1916 which cost the British and Commonwealth troops a horrifying 57,470 casualties, of whom 19,240 men were killed.
Battlefield visits will include Gommecourt, Serre – where the Northern Pals battalions fought, the Beaumont- Hamel battlefield, including the Sunken Lane where the Lancashire Fusiliers famously sheltered, Hawthorn Ridge, Thiepval, and the Leipzig Salient.
The second day will see us visit Ovillers, the Lochnagar mine crater at La Boisselle, and most significantly for our group, Fricourt, where regiments from Yorkshire fought. We’ll be hoping to persuade the tour guide to make a stop so we can visit the last resting place of a number of Driffield lads who were in the 5th Battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment, including Captain Frank Woodcock and Private Harold Collinson.
At the time of writing, we’re not 100% sure where the base for this Leger Silver Service tour will be – either Peronne or Amiens. Wherever we end up, it's sure to be a memorable trip once again.
