On 1st July 1996 a full military ceremonial service was conducted at Thiepval War Memorial in the Somme, to commemorate the 80th Anniversary of the Battle of the Somme, to which VIP guests from many nations, including Britain and the Commonwealth, were invited, both to honour and also to show their gratitude to those who had fallen in this epic Battle so many years ago.

Amongst those invited and attending was County Councillor Joe Walker, JP, Chairman of Durham County Council, the guest of the Department of the Somme and the French Government, who was accompanied by four pupils (three of whom were from Burnopfield), Cheryl Walton, Leanne Murray, Sam Yates and Stephen Shepherd and Mr Alec Atkinson a teacher,from Tanfield Comprehensive School, whose invitation was from the French Education Ministry and Fernand Demilly, Senator and President of the General Council of the Somme; the pupils having contributed to an exhibition marking the occasion.

The pupils’ work alongside work of pupils from the Collège Béranger, under the title " A WORK OF ART FOR PEACE" is now on permanent display within the First World War Museum in the town of Péronne in the Somme

At the conclusion of the Memorial Service, the principal guest, the Duke of Gloucester led the solemn wreath laying precession, accompanied by Pierre Pasquini, the French Minister for War Veterans, followed by ambassadors and other dignitaries and guests, together with a small dignified band of former World War I soldiers, who were the sole surviving veterans from the Battle. They were also immensely proud and satisfied that their former comrades-in-arms had been remembered and honoured in this demonstrative and dignified manner

The Chairman of the Council, accompanied and assisted by the pupils, in turn were privileged to lay a wreath in honour of Durham’s own kith and kin who had their final resting place there in France.

The wording specially chosen by the County Durham delegation for the wreath laying occasion read as follows:-

"AND THOUGH SO FAR FROM HOME AND FRIENDS

EACH DURHAM LAD DOTH KNOW

HE’S CHERISHED IN THEIR LOVING HEARTS

WHEREVER HE MAY GO"

Sam, Cheryl, Leanne and Stephen took part in other official ceremonial visits including the New Zealand War Memorial and Ulster Towers War Memorial, dedicated to the fallen soldiers from Ireland. The pupils were truly superb ambassadors for their communities, their school and the youth of Durham County.

The Thiepval Memorial, commemorating 72,085 British and Commonwealth soldiers who have no known graves but whose names are engraved on the walls of the Memorial, stands in magnificent grounds of 40 acres on a ridge overlooking the Somme battlefield. It is 150 feet high and was unveiled by the Prince of Wales in the presence of the President of France on 31st July 1932.

In addition to being a memorial to the missing, Thiepval is also a battle memorial to the battle offensive on the Somme in 1916. In further recognition of the joint nature of the allied endeavours in 1916 an Anglo-French cemetery was laid out behind the memorial. Beneath the dedication to the French and British Armies are inscribed the simple words:

"THE MISSING OF THE SOMME"

ADDENDUM

The Chairman of the Council, on his return from the Somme, visited Finchale Training College for the Disabled for a students’ prize giving ceremony, also there as a guest at the ceremony, was Captain Richard ("Dick") Annand VC, DL (Deputy Lieutenant for County Durham) who had been Personnel Officer at the College in 1955/56 when the Chairman was a student there. The Chairman gave the Captain an account of the ceremony in the Somme which the Chairman had recently attended, much to the delight of the Captain.

Why I have mentioned the above is, in my opinion it is a strange coincidence that by pure chance, details have been revealed of Private Kenny’s award as the first DLI recipient of the Victoria Cross in the 1914/18 World War, also the fact that Captain Annand, who was also in the DLI, was the first recipient of the Victoria Cross in the 1939/45 War,

A truly remarkable accolade for the DLI Regiment!!