THERE was much bonhomie in the village hall in Serre-les-Puisieux, as a group of Bradfordians and their French friends raised a glass to their special bond.

The Lord Mayor of Bradford, Councillor Geoff Reid, presented gifts to local mayors, and Anglo French conversations flowed.

A mile or so away, a newly-unveiled memorial looked out to Somme battlefields where hundreds of Bradford men lost their lives a century ago. Last month Bradford World War One Group travelled to northern France for a ceremony at the memorial, dedicated to the Pals and other men from the district who died in the conflict. The memorial stands in chapel grounds at the site of the Serre salient, which claimed the lives of many of the 16th and 18th Battalions, West Yorkshire Regiment. The memorial was funded by the Telegraph & Argus’s Honour the Pals appeal, raising £5,485, matched by Bradford Council. The WW1 Group organised the transportation and installation of the stone, donated by Fagley Quarries.

Each group member had their own reasons for making the trip. At St Vaast cemetery, Richebourg, Ray Greenough placed a poppy cross at the grave of his wife’s great uncle, William Warrener, of Great Horton. Private Warrener, of the 17th West Yorks, died of wounds on April 20 , 1916.

“The centenary of the war led me to research the part played by mine and my wife’s families,” said Ray. “I discovered that only one person from my family went to war, and he didn’t return. My wife’s family, however, supplied five sons - Enos, George Arthur, William, Lloyd and Tom - of which two never returned and one returned badly injured. They fought in the Somme, Italy, Egypt and Turkey. They all enlisted at the first opportunity, although their mother didn’t agree. The chance that all her sons may never return was a burden she didn’t want to bear.

“Finding William’s grave was a very moving moment, especially looking around at the large number of surrounding graves. My first thought was he’s surrounded by his comrades, so he has company.

“George Arthur’s body wasn’t recovered. His name is on a panel at the Menin Gate in Ypres. Thousands visit; every night the Last Post is sounded and commemorative wreaths are laid, just below where George’s name is inscribed. Every photograph of those wreaths will have his name in the background. “

On July 27, 1916 the Bradford Pals came under heavy fire at Richebourg. German troops broke into the front line armed with pistols and bombs and left with prisoners, including Bradford City footballer Dickie Bond. Buried here are several Bradford men killed in the hand-to-hand fighting that day.

Ray is also researching former pupils of Bradford’s Marshfield School, killed in WW1. He found names of some at the Arras Memorial.

Nick Hooper, former head of history at Bradford Grammar School, has led pupils on 25 battlefield trips. “Visiting trenches sparked their imaginations, then after seeing names of BGS boys in the cemeteries a silence would descend over the bus,” said Nick, who's researching every former BGS pupil killed in WW1.

At Couin cemetery he placed crosses at the graves of Walter Bradfield and George Blagbrough, both killed in action at Hebuterne in December, 1916. Private Bradfield, of Ilkley, served with the Leeds Pals and was hit by a German shell in the trenches. Major Blagbrough, attached to the 1st Bradford Pals, died on the front during ‘whizz-bang’ shelling.

Geoff Barker, former chairman of the WW1 Group, first travelled to the region 22 years ago, in the footsteps of his great uncle, Harry Barker. “He was killed on the first day of the Somme. His body was never found, his name is on the Thiepval Memorial” said Geoff. “My grandad was in the Territorials, he fought at Passchendaele and was gassed but survived. As a child I’d sit with him and he talked about the war. He told me about a soldier who carried on running when his head was blown off, and another man who leapt off a stretcher and ran to the ambulance as soon as he saw it! As a boy, those stories stayed in my head.”

Geoff co-founded the Bradford WW1 Group with Joan Kenny, a driving force behind initial plans for a Bradford Pals memorial in France before her death. “This memorial is the culmination of what Joan wanted - to leave something substantial for Bradford soldiers,” said Geoff.

For Chris Power, the trip took him to graves of men from the Indian Army and British West Indies Regiment, buried at cemeteries including Vieille Chapelle, Arras and Hooge Crater, Belgium. "I want to tell their story, it's one that is generally left out of accounts of WW1," said Chris.

Paul Sharkey found his grandfather's cousin Charles Sharkey’s name on the Loos Memorial. Charles, from County Donegal, served with 2nd Battalion Irish Guards and was killed at Loos on September 30, 1915. "I’m probably the first person in my family to visit,” said Paul. "For a long time, Irish men who'd served in the war were seen as traitors. I think a century on, they can finally be remembered."

Royal British Legion standard bearer Martin Fearnley represented the Bradford branch at the ceremony. “My grandad died in the Second World War, and the British Legion fought for my grandma's widow’s pension,” said Martin. “She and parents were in the Legion and my mum, Joyce Fearnley, was a standard bearer like me. She was with the Legion for 50 years. My grandma, Mabel Wood, sold poppies on the streets and my dad is still a volunteer. It was an honour to represent my city at this memorial, and to join the French standard bearers. They greeted me with a handshake, and told me to lead the parade into the chapel.”

Lord Mayor’s Officer Paul Greed, who served in the Army in Germany, Cyprus and Canada, accompanied former Lord Mayor Allan Hillary to unveil a Bradford Pals plaque at Hebuterne in 2002. He returned, with the current Lord Mayor, for last month’s ceremony. “Being ex-forces, it’s a privilege to be here,” said Paul.

* All pictures by Nick Hooper