Bradford and Keighley pay tribute to soldiers who fell during the Battle of the Somme

The event was held at the Bradford Pals' Memorial in the memorial garden behind the Bradford War Memorial.

The district's annual commemoration services took on an extra poignancy yesterday on the centenary of the conflict in which hundreds of Bradford Pals, part of the West Yorkshire Regiment, fell.

At 7.30am on July 1 1916, 2,000 young men from Bradford left their trenches and by the end of the first hour of the battle, 1,770 of them had been killed or injured. 

The service, which started at 11am, was conducted by The Dean of Bradford, The Very Reverend Jerry Lepine.

It included readings by the Lord Mayor of Bradford, Councillor Geoff Reid and an address by the Lord Lieutenant of West Yorkshire, Dr Ingrid Roscoe.

The Dean said: "Those who served from Bradford were ordinary people like you and like me who, frankly, did not know the horror they were about to experience."

Malcolm Greenwood, 82, of Wibsey, attended the service to honour his father, George Greenwood, who served and survived the Somme as a member of the Duke of Wellington's West Yorkshire Regiment.

He said: "I was thinking of my father during the service. I was emotional. 
"My father served on the Somme but he never spoke about it when he came home."

Leonard Smith, 70, of North Dean House, Bradford, had four uncles who served for the Bradford branch of the Royal Artillery on the day of the Somme, only two of them survived.

He said: "Today is a very emotional day for me.

"It is a very important day for me and my family too.

"My father was the youngest and was too young to serve then."

Earlier today, people from all walks of life gathered in the centre of Keighley to remember those who fought in the Battle of the Somme.

Veterans, British Legion members, dignitaries and ordinary members of the public all stood shoulder to shoulder as the nation – and world – marked the centenary of the start of the bloody battle.

About 50 people congregated at the town's memorial shortly before 7.30am for the short service of commemoration.

Town chaplain, the Rev Dr Jonathan Pritchard, led the service.

He said the Battle of the Somme – which lasted over four months – resulted in more than a million casualties from the British, French and German armies.

"It is difficult to get our heads round these figures," he said.

"To make it more local, 230 men from Keighley and district had their lives taken from them on the Somme. Maybe four times as many were wounded.

"That's from a total male population in 1916 of 21,000. That's one in every 15 Keighley men.

"We honour the memory of those who inhabited that war-shattered landscape, those who showed great courage and loyalty to comrades at arms and those who saw the unspeakable sight of bodies broken."

He added that the first day of the battle was the worst the British army had ever suffered, with more than 57,000 casualties and nearly 20,000 fatalities.

People at the commemoration had been invited to bring whistles, and those were blown, replicating the signal given along the British front line at 7.30am on July 1, 1916, for troops to go over the top.

A silent tribute was also observed.

The town mayor, Councillor Shabir Ahmed, read a brief account of one of the Keighley soldiers killed that day.

Alan Clough, a captain with the 16th Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment (1st Bradford Pals), died shortly after 8am. He was just 21.

The Deputy Lieutenant of West Yorkshire, David Pearson, then spoke about a soldier – Private William Roberts – who survived the battle, but died in 1917, aged 23.

The exhortation was given by Kathrine Roberts, from the British Legion.

As the service took place, bells were ringing out at churches across the district to mark the centenary and prayers were said.