Published on:
23
June 2016
As part of the nation's Remembrance of the Battle of the Somme. Provost Derek Stewart is inviting Clackmannanshire residents to join him at a commemoration event.
The event takes place at 10am on Friday 1st July at Alloa War Memorial.
The Battle of the Somme was one of the bloodiest battles in history and has come to symbolise the enormous losses and dreadful conditions of the First World War. It took place in Northern France around the River Somme from 1 July to 18 November 1916. Now, a century later, communities across the country will be acknowledging the sacrifice of those who died.
Provost Stewart said: "A century after these events, the trauma of this battle is still strongly felt. Almost every community across the UK was deeply affected by the loss of men who had gone to fight at the Battle of the Somme. This event is an opportunity to commemorate those who made the ultimate sacrifice."
With the French and British armies calling upon troops from the colonies and the French Foreign Legion, units from 25 nations and 50 countries were involved in the Battle of the Somme. In four months of combat, the total number of men killed, wounded and missing reached over one million and entire nations were sent into mourning. Casualties amounted to 420,000 for the British, 190,000 for the French and 420,000 for the Germans. The landscape of the north-east of the Somme was completely devastated; villages were razed to the ground and fields were turned into lunar-landscapes by shelling.