The Battle of the Somme marked in ceremony at Thiepval

The 1 July 2025 marked the 109th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme. CWGC France Area Director, Jeremy Prince, laid a wreath at a ceremony to mark the anniversary at the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme.

The Thiepval Memorial bears the names of more than 72,000 officers and men of the United Kingdom and South African forces who died in the Somme sector before 20 March 1918 and have no known grave. Over 90% of those commemorated died between July and November 1916.

The first day of the Battle of the Somme is regarded as the worst in British military history, as the British Army suffered over 57,000 casualties, of whom the Commission commemorates over 18,500 who were killed. 

Many of those going into battle for the first time on 1 July belonged to the so called “Pals battalions” of the British Army. Groups of volunteers, many from the same communities, workplaces, clubs, or organisations who enlisted together at the beginning of the war, served together and often all too tragically died together, leaving whole communities back home grieving for their lost loved ones. Close to 150,000 Commonwealth casualties are buried in close to 350 sites on the Somme. They range from large cemeteries with thousands of casualties through to small cemeteries and individual graves in village churchyards and burial grounds.

This ceremony was one of many happening in the area and proved a busy day for our 2025 intake of CWGC guides. If you'd like to read how busy it was, a blog post by our guide Gabi Thomas is on the following link:

A day in the Life of a Thiepval Guide - 1 July 2025