| Remembering
the Bradford Pals |
|
|
 |
| The
grave of Private Horace Iles who died on July 1st 1916, aged
only 16 |
|
|
In
the middle of World War 1, on July 1st 1916, 2000 young men from
Bradford left their trenches in Northern France to advance across
no man's land. It was the first hour of the first day of the battle
of the Somme.
|
|
|
| SEE
ALSO |
|
|
Sense
of Place
|
|
|
|
WEB
LINKS
|
|
|
|
The 麻豆社 is not responsible for the content
of external websites.
|
|
|
|
POPPIES
|
|
|
|
Scarlet
poppies grow naturally in conditions of disturbed earth.
The significance of the poppy as a lasting memorial symbol
to the fallen was realised by the Canadian surgeon John McCrae
in his poem In Flanders Fields.
The poppy quickly became a lasting memorial to those who died
in the First World War and later conflicts.
|
|
| PRINT
THIS PAGE |
|
| View
a printable
version of this page. |
|
 |
|
|
These
Bradford men formed the 16th and 18th battalions of the West Yorkshire
Regiment, the Bradford Pals.
The
objective of their attack was the village of Serre where they had
been told there would be little resistance. Instead they were met
by fire from German machine guns. By the end of the first hour of
the battle, 1770 men from Bradford were casualties and no ground
had been gained.
In
common with other Northern towns, when war broke out in 1914, friends
and work mates in Bradford had rushed to enlist together to form
Pals battalions.
July
1st 1916 is still the most disastrous single day ever experienced
by the British army. The full extent of the tragedy was brought
home to Bradford in the following days as the lists of casualties,
accompanied by passport-style photographs of the dead, appeared
in local newspapers.
In
1974 a 麻豆社 North crew accompanied some of the surviving Bradford
Pals on what was to be their last trip back to the Somme. Click
on the 'more' button below to see some of their
memories.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
What's
on across West Yorkshire? From gigs to the top ten films, from clubbing
to the theatre - it's all here!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
