Joanne Ginley
NINETY years ago members of the Leeds Pals set off from the village of Bus les Atois to take up their position for one of the bloodiest battles in military history.
Before they left, they sang songs from home and together with members of the Bradford Pals threw an impromptu brass band concert for the locals.
Just 24 hours later three- quarters of the Leeds Pals were dead.
Yesterday a memorial was unveiled in the village in northern France commemorating the courage of the Leeds Pals during the First World War. It is the first memorial unveiled to them in France.
The ceremony took place on the exact day when, 90 years earlier, the soldiers left the village to face the enemy.
The next morning – July 1, 1916 – it is estimated that 750 of the 900 soldiers were killed when they went over the top on the opening day of the Battle of the Somme.
Civic leaders from Leeds travelled out to France for the unveiling together with members of the Great War Society, who helped bring the last moments of their lives to light.
Just as soldiers had done 90 years earlier they sat in a bar singing On Ilkley Moor baht 'at before marching off to battle dressed in full period uniform.
During a moving service attended by many local people a bugler played The Last Post on an original Leeds Pals bugle. Wreaths were laid and French veterans, civic leaders and locals gathered to pay their respects.
The Mayor of Bus les Atois, Philippe Rouvillain, said: "It's a proud day for our village. The memories are strong here. We remember what was done for France so close to where we live."
The Leeds Pals were in the first wave of soldiers sent into the Battle of the Somme.
The attack began at 7.29am. It was a disaster, with troops walking into a murderous hail of artillery and machine gun fire.
In waves they fell.
They were followed into action by two battalions of the Bradford Pals shortly afterwards. The first Bradford Pals battalion lost over 500 men and the second 414 on the first day.
Yesterday Leeds City Council leader Coun Mark Harris, speaking in Bus les Atois, said: "Three-quarters of the Leeds Pals spent their last night here, which is a staggering thought really.
"We cannot possibly know what it was like then but we know from the records that there was hardly a street in Leeds that wasn't affected."
The Pals were a middle-class battalion and their heavy losses robbed Leeds of a generation of businessmen and other professionals. They included a journalist from the Yorkshire Evening Post, Lance Grocock, and the son of the Vicar of Leeds, the Rev Samuel Bickersteth.
The memorial unveiled yesterday consists of trees and shrubs as well as a block of Portland stone.
An inscription reads: "We remember with pride the soldiers of the Leeds Pals and Leeds Rifles."
Among those who travelled out for the ceremony were the Rector of Leeds, Canon Tony Bundock, and Jonathan Tolson, a great nephew of Leeds Pal Robert Huntriss-Tolson, who was killed in action.
Mr Tolson, of Somerset, said it was the first time he had been to Bus les Atois and he had found it a moving experience.
The battle lasted three months. On the first day alone 20,000 British and French troops died and 40,000 were injured, gunned down as they marched across no man's land, the shell-torn ground between the Allied and German trenches.
By the time the battle ended 240,000 Allied troops had been slaughtered.
n A ceremony will be held in Leeds city centre today and a memorial unveiled.
Lord Mayor Coun Moham-med Iqbal will open the service in Victoria Gardens. It will also include a Prayer of Dedication and readings by a Normandy veteran and the Royal British Legion.
The Prince of Wales, Princess Anne and Cabinet Ministers will be among those joining the commemorations in France today.
joanne.ginley@ypn.co.uk