Battle of the Somme Centenary in Heywood

As part of the Heywood WW1 Centenary Commemorations, Heywood Township Councillors will be commemorating the 100 Year anniversary of the Battle of the Somme by installed two specially made memorial benches into the War memorial Gardens to complement the work undertaken thus far

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As part of the Heywood WW1 Centenary Commemorations, Heywood Township Councillors will be commemorating the 100 Year anniversary of the Battle of the Somme by installed two specially made memorial benches into the War memorial Gardens to complement the work undertaken thus far.

Due to the major Battle of the Somme event being held in Manchester it has been decided to dedicate the benches two weeks earlier at Heywood's annual 1940s Day event.

Fought between July and November 1916, the Battle of the Somme was one of the defining events of the First World War.

The Somme offensive was planned as the major Allied effort on the Western Front for 1916, but the start of a desperate battle between French and German forces at Verdun meant that the British Army assumed the main role.

After an intense, week-long artillery bombardment of German positions, the infantry began their advance at 7.30am on the clear midsummer’s morning of 1 July 1916.

While there were some gains to the south, in the north the attacking troops struggled to overcome formidable defences, many of which had survived the artillery barrage. By the end of the first day, some 57,000 Commonwealth and 2,000 French soldiers had become casualties – more than 19,000 of whom had been killed.

The offensive continued over the following months, and men from every part of Britain and across the Empire took part. Both sides committed huge quantities of manpower and munitions to the struggle.

When the offensive was halted in November, more than 1,000,000 Commonwealth, French and German soldiers had been wounded, captured, or killed.