HARLOW residents are invited to a special commemoration service on Friday 1 July 2016 in Harlow Market Square to remember those who lost their lives in the Battle of the Somme 100 years ago.

The service will take place early in the morning from 7am to 8am and includes a 2 minutes’ silence at 7.30am. This is the exact time on 1 July 1916 British soldiers “went over the top” to commence the battle.

The first day of The Battle of the Somme was the bloodiest day in the history of the British Army. The Battle of the Somme lasted from 1 July 1916 to 18 November 1916. Over one million men lost their lives in the battle. On the first day alone there were 57,470 casualties, of these approximately 19,240 were killed, and 35,000 were wounded. During the battle 13 men from Harlow were killed, with two men killed on the first day.

On the day of the event bus passes will be accepted before 9am by Arriva and Trustybus. Free parking will be available at Post Office Road car park between 6.30am and 8.30am.

The event is being organised by the Harlow WW1 project team which includes the Royal British Legion, Heart 4 Harlow, Harlow Civic Society, The Western Front Association, the local community and Harlow Council. The group was set up in 2014 to commemorate the four year centenary of The First World War (1914-1918). The group organised the 2014 commemoration event at the Potter Street war memorial.

As part of commemorating the Battle of the Somme there will be a touring exhibition remembering the 13 Harlow soldiers who lost their lives in battle. The exhibition will be on show at various locations in Harlow starting at the Royal British Legion on 27 June 2016 before touring for 141 days (duration of the battle) ending on 18 November 2016.

Further information will appear nearer to the event at www.harlow.gov.uk/ww1 and on the Council’s Facebook and Twitter channels.

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