(Photo: Haslingden War Memorial - Jennifer Shilliday)
Today we commemorate below the seven brave Haslingden soldiers who died 100 years ago today (1st July 1916). Commemorations start today (Friday) for the soldiers who lost their lives in the "Battle Of The Somme".
"The day was a disaster for the British. The Germans weathered the artillery fire in deep trenches and came up fighting. As the British soldiers advanced, they were mown down by machine gun and rifle fire. In total, 19,240 British soldiers lost their lives on that one day, It was the bloodiest day in the history of the British army" and the Battle Of The Somme continued from 1st July to the 18th November 1916 and over 360,000 British casualties were reported .
Over the next few days and months we will also commemorate a further 53 more of Haslingden and Helmshore's brave, (Please click over their name to activate their link). This list only accommodates our local soldiers that fell between 1st July and the 18th November 1916, with the far majority from the Battle of the Somme and a few from other European battles at that time:
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(All links above are made directly through to the Haslingden War Heroes Site)
YOU CAN CHECK OUT MORE BRAVE HASLINGDEN AND HELMSHORE SOLDIERS WHO ALSO LOST THEIR LIVES DURING THE TWO WORLD WARS BY CLICKING ON ANY OF THE ABOVE NAMES AND THEN LOOKING DOWN THE LEFT HAND COLUMN INDEX AND THEN CLICKING OVER THE NAME REQUIRED.
