Meanwood 100th Anniversary of Battle of Somme

The Somme

Fought between July 1 and November 1, 1916 near the Somme River in France, it was also one of the bloodiest military battles in history. On the first day alone, the British suffered more than 57,000 casualties, and by the end of the campaign the Allies and Central Powers would lose more than 1.5 million men. On the first day of the Battle of the Somme in France in 1916 it said every street in Leeds lost one man.

The Leeds Pals

The Leeds Pals were a First World War Pals battalion of Kitchener’s Army raised in the West Yorkshire city of Leeds. When the battalion was taken over by the British Army it was officially named the 15th Battalion (1st Leeds), The Prince of Wales’s Own (West Yorkshire Regiment).

The battalion was formed in September 1914 and underwent training at Colsterdale in the Yorkshire Dales. It became part of the 93rd Brigade of the 31st Division, along with the two Bradford Pals battalions (16th and 18th Battalions, The West Yorkshire Regiment). In December 1915 the Leeds Pals were deployed to Egypt to defend the Suez Canal from the threat of the Ottoman Empire.

In March 1916 the battalion landed in France, joining the British build up for the Battle of the Somme. On the first day on the Somme, 1 July 1916, the 31st Division attacked towards the village of Serre and the Leeds Pals advanced from a line of copses named after the Gospels. The battalion was shelled in its trenches before Zero Hour (7.30 am) and when it advanced, it was met by heavy machine gun fire. A few men got as far as the German barbed wire but no further. Later in the morning the German defenders came out to clear the bodies off their wire, killing any that were still alive. The battalion casualties, sustained in the few minutes after Zero, were 24 officers and 504 other ranks, of which 15 officers and 233 other ranks were killed.

“The name of Serre and the date of 1st July is engraved deep in our hearts, along with the faces of our ‘Pals’, a grand crowd of chaps. We were two years in the making and ten minutes in the destroying.” (Private A.V. Pearson, Leeds Pals)^[1]

In December 1917 the Leeds Pals were amalgamated with the 2nd Leeds battalion (17th Battalion, The West Yorkshire Regiment, a Bantam battalion) to form the 15th/17th Battalion, The West Yorkshire Regiment.

Reference wikipedia

 

Programme of Events

10:50am The Lord Lieutenant of West Yorkshire and Lord Mayor of Leeds assemble at War Memorial met by Alderman Brenda Lancaster, Revd. Canon Kingsley Dowling and the City of Leeds Pipe Band and proceed to Meanwood Park

11:00am The official opening of event in Meanwood Park Poem ‘The Soldiers Bond’ read by Revd. Kingsley Dowling.

11:30am Leeds Male Voice Choir with songs from the era. Formed in 1916 at Middleton Broom Colliery the choir celebrate their centenary this year.

12noon Richard Wilcocks author –tells the story of Dorothy Wilkinson a suffragette who marries an RAMC Captain

12:30pm Interval – time to take a look at the stalls, listen to their stories and have a bite to eat and drink

1:00pm Come dancing through the century

2:00pm Leeds Male Voice Choir

2:30pm Kevin Morley –tells us about ‘Life as a Tommy and the Leeds Pals’

3:00pm Meanwood C of E school choir take us to Tipperary

3:30pm City of Leeds Pipe Band formed in 1960 by a small group of former members of Scottish Regimental Association of Yorkshire Pipe Band “The Yorkshire Jocks”. Formed as a self supporting, non profit making organisation. A spectacular sight. Enjoy!

3:45pm David Marshall of the Royal British Legion delivers the Exhortation from ‘The Fallen’ by Laurence Binyon

4:00pm Last post and National Anthem