Hull commemorates the Battle of the Somme
On the 100th anniversary of the start of the Battle of the Somme, we speak to a Hull man whose Great Uncles died there.
Events take place today to mark the 100th anniversary of the start of the Battle of the Somme, Britain's bloodiest ever battle.
The nation will fall silent at 7:28am on the 1st of July – when, exactly 100 years ago, the first soldiers left their trenches in northern France to fight what became one of the deadliest campaigns of the First World War.
More than one-million men on all sides were killed or injured in the Battle of the Somme. Overnight, a vigil was held at the Grave of the Unknown Warrior at Westminster Abbey to honour their sacrifice.
Events are taking place across the UK and France today in the same spirit. Commemorative events are also taking place across Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire to mark the centenary of the battle.
The Battle of the Somme resulted in the worst losses of British Army personnel during the First World War, and was one of the bloodiest battles in human history.
The battle included soldiers from our region serving with a number of units.We’ve been speaking to Frank Rudland from Hull. His two great uncles died in the conflict and he often visits the exact spot where they were killed to remember them.
Frank Rudland speaks to Viking's Natalie Bell:
Alan Brigham is from the Hull People's Memorial - which is holding a Battle of Somme exhibition. He says it's hard to know exactly how many men from our region were killed - but it went into the thousands:
"There were men from Hull who had signed up in Grimsby, Lincoln, Scarborough and Leeds but the East Yorkshire regiment, they lost thousands of men by the time of the Battle of Somme was finished.
"If people in Hull were to actually search for their ancestry there would not eb a family in Hull that were not touched by World War One with the loss of a relative. We had a lady in yesterday and we discovered she had an ancestor who had served in the Battle of Somme. We have got to remember these men, these guys have given us our freedom."