One hundred years have passed since the first ranks of brave men were sent ‘over the top’ at the Battle of the Somme and people have been paying tributes on Twitter.
It is known as the ‘bloodiest day in British military history’ and lives on in infamy, emblematic of the senseless slaughter of the First World War.
When the whistles blew in the trenches that sunny morning on July 1, 1916, thousands and thousands of young men marched to their death. ‘Lions led by donkeys’.
Rows and rows of men – many still just teenagers – were mowed down by machine gun fire as they walked across No Man’s Land to attack German trenches. English, Welsh, Irish, Scottish and Canadians fell side by side.
Brigades like the Accrington Pals, where whole towns joined up for King and Country, were almost totally wiped out before they could even get out of the trenches at the Somme. Hundreds of men killed in minutes.
When the guns fell silent at the end of the first day there were more than 57,000 British casualties.
Commemorations were taking place in Northern France to mark 100 years since the bitter five-month battle began.
But people on Twitter were remembering the individual human cost of The Somme, posting tributes and stories of family members who fought in the trenches and many who never came home…
My great great grandfather who died on the 1st day of the battle of the Somme along with so many others. #Somme100 pic.twitter.com/iJVKAa5oWv
— Michael Parr (@MikeParrActor) July 1, 2016
Remembering today my great grandfather Private Ned Burke of the King's Liverpool & all those who suffered. #Somme100 pic.twitter.com/d70NMfggwY
— Andy Burnham (@AndyBurnhamGM) July 1, 2016
https://twitter.com/TomBlenkinsop/status/748792929561391104
My Grandfather whom I never met. He was one of the 'lucky' ones who came back from the #Somme100 but a changed man pic.twitter.com/5ZhqTniMHS
— Jon Hammond DL (@jonhammondtweet) July 1, 2016
https://twitter.com/drg1985/status/748797284423315457
My Great-Grandfather who fought at the battle of the Somme aged just 15. #Somme100 #WW1Centenary #WW1 #BoySoldier pic.twitter.com/vEJxcjOoGT
— Patricia (@PatrRyder) July 1, 2016
Remembering my great grandfather Gunner James Smith who died at the Somme even before the main battles pic.twitter.com/K8Tvn6gHJD
— Jacqui Smith (@Jacqui_Smith1) July 1, 2016
My Great Grandfather (seated), Duncan Glasfurd, Argyll & Sutherland Fuseliers, 23/11/1873-12/11/1916, killed, Somme. pic.twitter.com/ngVZ9h7apV
— Guinevere Glasfurd 🇺🇦🌻 (@GuinGlasfurd) July 1, 2016
My grandfather's unit in France, 1916. Volunteered in Oct 1915, fighting in The Somme eight months later#Somme100 pic.twitter.com/5UYFalIvLG
— Adam Parsons (@adamparsons) July 1, 2016
https://twitter.com/Bowlington_/status/748759857453338624
grandfather's cousin Pte Norman McLeod 16th Royal Scots b 20/6/1898 d 1/7/1916 at the Somme #RIP 17yrs pic.twitter.com/D4FlgJPrGQ
— P&KSgt (@PandKSgt) June 30, 2016
Waiting.
Time drags.
A last letter home.
Goodbye, with the best of love.#Somme100 pic.twitter.com/lHyh9fV7wd
— Matthew Ward Hunter (@HistoryNeedsYou) July 1, 2016
Empire, Faith & War: Remembering Sikhs who fought in the Battle of the Somme as the world commemorates #Somme100 pic.twitter.com/l4A9IULYld
— Harjinder Singh Kukreja (@SinghLions) June 30, 2016
https://twitter.com/lizzy630_liz/status/711297779222577152
@EveningChron this is my fav family photo all went to the Somme
All came back
3 brothers
My grandad Plews on left pic.twitter.com/MypqmPO0ON— The official Big Pink Dress (@formerly_BPD) March 25, 2016
Remembering my grandad, Luther Bradbury, Machine Gun Corp Cavalry, 10th Hussars & all his comrades #Somme100 pic.twitter.com/00xq6QYsiT
— Jason Bradbury (@JasonBradbury) July 1, 2016
