Children are helping to keep alive the tragic story of the Bradford Pals.

On Tuesday people will gather in Centenary Square to mark the sacrifice made by hundreds of young soldiers from the district in the Battle of the Somme.

The public ceremony is being put on for the first time, at the request of the Lord Mayor, Councillor Allan Hillary.

The tens of thousands of soldiers who lost their lives in that bloody First World War battle included members of two battalions recruited in Bradford, the 16th and 18th, known as the Bradford Pals.

The last surviving member of the two battalions died in 1996 but relatives have been invited to attend the ceremony and a civic reception afterwards.

Students at Hanson School, Bradford, will perform a piece of street theatre as part of the ceremony.

Pupils at the school, where 150 choose to study GCSE History each year, take part in trips to the First World War battlefields every other year.

They have already made a visit to see a plaque near the village of Hebuterne in Northern France which commemorates fallen members of the Bradford Pals.

Older students laid a wreath in Undercliffe Cemetery during the last Remembrance Day celebrations.

Sue Horsley, acting head teacher, said: "We try to make the GCSE classes more immediate and trips to the battlefields are a good way to do this.

"In alternate years we take them to Auschwitz and sixth formers visit Washington DC.

"History is very popular here at GCSE and A-level."

Carl Smith, head of creative arts at the school, said: "The piece we are doing is called Sunset and is a symbolic interpretation of the end of hostilities, but also of significant sacrifices people make."

The Lord Mayor, Coun Hillary, said he hoped the ceremony could become an annual event.

"I am over the moon at Hanson School's involvement because it's bringing the modern generation to share and learn from this," he said.

"We need to make people aware of the sacrifice these people made.

"They agreed to serve their country and their city and thought they'd be back home in four months. But for many of them, their war was over so very, very quickly. Many were killed within 20 minutes."

The Bradford Pals was a home-grown regiment, founded in August 1914.

The theory was that men who were already friends would form a better fighting unit.

But in the Battle of the Somme on July 1, 1916 they were almost wiped out after being ordered to go over the top of the trenches.

An estimated 400 lost their lives in fruitless offensives over the next few months.

l Tuesday's ceremony starts at 11am and will last 30 to 40 minutes. Members of the public are welcome to attend and also view an exhibition on the Bradford Pals (free admission) in the main entrance of City Hall. Performing Hanson School pupils, pictured from left, back, are: Stacey Daykin, Alice Gilderdale, Ryan Kelsey, Laura Benazaize and Emma Brooksbank; middle, Laura Doherty and Gemma Conroy; and front, Jade Bean, Sarah Abbasi and Jenni Lee.