Restored film shows Chums before battle of the Somme

The film features the 10th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment, also known as the Grimsby Chums, at their camp in Brocklesby, and had been shown at the town’s Tivoli cinema shortly after July 1, 1916 - the first day of the devastating battle of the Somme - but was quickly withdrawn because so many of the men had been killed.

But now, after the reel was discovered in a shed at Binbrook, it has been carefully restored and will be shown again at Grimsby Central Library on November 8 and 11.

One of Kitchener’s Pals Battalions, the unit was formed at the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 when posters went up around the town urging men to answer the call to arms during the patriotic fervour gripping the nation at the time.

Despite the now infamous belief that they would face little opposition after a massive bombardment of the German lines, the men who went “over the top” that day walked straight into murderous fire, and the Chums were in the first wave.

They rushed forward to occupy the Lochnagar Crater, an enormous hole created by British mines, but many became trapped and were at the mercy of both British and German artillery. A memorial to the Chums now stands at the site.

Author Peter Steel will be at the screenings and would like to speak to descendants of the Chums for a new book.