The worst day: How Yorkshire joined our nation in marking 100 years of The Somme
Ceremonies across the United Kingdom honoured the hundreds of thousands of victims of the brutal offensive which started in northern France on July 1 1916.
The two-minute silence ended at 7.30am, the time when the British, Commonwealth and French forces went “over the top” a century ago.
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Hide AdThe British Army suffered almost 60,00 casualties on the first day alone and more than a million men would be killed or wounded on both sides over the course of the 141-day offensive.
The silence came after a night-long vigil led in Britain by the Queen and at the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, which towers over the rolling Picardy fields where so many fell.
Senior royals including the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, will join Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Francois Hollande and other leaders at the memorial later for a service of remembrance in front of an audience of 10,000.
We will remember them...
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Hide AdA lone bugler marked the moment just before 7.30am in City Square, Leeds as the hustle and bustle of early morning city life came to a momentary, and poignant, stand-still.
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Hide AdSimilar scenes were repeated across Yorkshire as an original Somme whistle was blown by Capt Alex Redshaw from the Yorkshire Regiment at the York War Memorial.
In London, people lined Parliament Square to pay tribute, where the two-minute reflection was marked with the sound of gunfire.
People huddled under trees and umbrellas paused from their commutes to stand quietly.
The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery were present, having been at Thiepval on Thursday night.
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Hide AdThe soldiers manned three sets of guns, drawn into place by horses, and fired every four seconds for 100 seconds to mark the silence.
Whistles were blown and Big Ben chimed when the two minutes were over, though many still continued to pause in reflection.
A Home Front and military parade will take pride of place at a national commemoration in Manchester. There will also be a wreath-laying Cenotaph Service, a service at Manchester Cathedral and an evening concert at Heaton Park.
The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Harry and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester will attend the French commemorative event with Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Francois Hollande.
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Hide AdThey will be joined by heads of state and representatives from the nations who fought in the battle, as well as French, British and Irish schoolchildren, descendants of those who fought and members of the public.
The UK and French governments, along with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Westminster Abbey, the Royal British Legion and Manchester City Council have all worked together to help host these key events in Britain and France.
Mr Cameron said: “Today is a chance to reflect on the sacrifice not just of the thousands of British and Commonwealth troops who gave their lives, but of the men on all sides who did not return home.
“It is an opportunity to think about the impact of the devastation felt by communities across all of the nations involved, which left mothers without sons, wives without husbands and children without fathers.
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Hide Ad“The young men who left our shores believed in the cause for which they fought and we honour their memory.
“But today is also a chance to stand as friends with the representatives of all the countries who are here today. This event and the Thiepval monument itself bear testament to a solemn pledge - those who died here will never be forgotten.”