A battalion of Bradford soldiers will finally be honoured with a memorial, 85 years after their deaths in the Battle of the Somme.

A plaque, pictured, will be placed close to the spot where the 44 Bradford Pals were gunned down by Germans during the World War One battle in 1917.

Members of the Bradford Mechanics Institute Library World War One Group today revealed the plaque which will honour the men who died in a woodland after receiving inaccurate reports that the area had been cleared of German soldiers.

It will be officially unveiled during a special ceremony, attended by Bradford citizens, in the northern French village of Hebuterne in June.

Eric Kenny, of Bascombe Road, Allerton, who along with his wife Joan has led the campaign to get a memorial, said he was delighted.

"They have done a very good job on the memorial," he said. "It will be a fitting tribute, and at last there will be something for them because until now there has been no memorial at all."

The couple launched a bid to fund a tribute to the soldiers when they discovered on a trip to the Somme in 1995 that the Pals were one of the few battalions without a memorial.

"My wife and I went looking around northern France, and everywhere we went there were memorials for places such as Accrington and Sheffield and all sorts of smaller towns, but Bradford had nothing," said Mr Kenny.

The couple made arrangements with the Mayor of Hebuterne to have the plaque placed in his village, and Bradford Council stepped in to provide the funding for its design and manufacture.

The Bradford Mechanics Institute Library group is raising funds to pay for the installation of the memorial.

Today Councillor Anne Hawkesworth (Cons, Bingley Rural), executive member for the environment, said she was pleased the Council had been able to help out with an "important" memorial for the city.

Luc Tabary, Mayor of Hebuterne, said he was honoured to establish a memorial to the Bradford soldiers.

He has invited a coach-load of Bradford people to join the village in its annual remembrance service to those who died during the First World War, during which the plaque will be unveiled.

The party will then be treated to a civic reception in the village hall to mark the occasion.

Monsieur Tabary helped the World War Group track down the graves of the Bradford Pals killed in 1917, and offered a spot opposite the Chapel of Rest in the village where the plaque could be located.

He said: "Mrs Kenny approached me asking for some information about the Bradford Pals and we found out where they were buried in a British cemetery near here.

"I thought it would be right that the Pals had their own plaque here in our village."

There are places available on the trip to France on June 8 and 9. It is open to anyone who would be interested in attending the ceremony.

For information, contact Mr Kenny on (01274) 497479.