FROM WESTMINSTER TO THIEPVAL
Today
A service will be held at Westminster Abbey, attended by the Queen (broadcast live on BBC Two, from 7.30pm), followed by an overnight vigil around the Grave of the Unknown Warrior.
A 15-minute watch will be kept around the grave – which contains the body of an unidentified British serviceman exhumed from the Western Front – by service personnel and community groups representing those involved in the battle.
Tomorrow
At 7:28am, Britain will hold a national two-minute silence to mark the moment the first wave of soldiers went over the top. The silence will follow the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery firing guns from Parliament Square for 100 seconds and a reading in Westminster Abbey. Whistles will be blown to mark the end of the silence after the chimes of Big Ben.
At 11am (BST), there will be a service at Thiepval Memorial in northern France, attended by the Prince of Wales, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Henry of Wales, as well as dignitaries from across Europe.
Manchester will host the national commemorations. At 1.45pm, there a wreath will be laid at the cenotaph in St Peter’s Square, followed by a parade to Manchester Cathedral, where a commemorative service will be held at 3pm.
At 7.30pm, a concert at Heaton Park will the Hallé Orchestra, a 300-strong children’s choir, and a specially commissioned poem read by author and University of Manchester chancellor Lemn Sissay. Last Post will be sounded at sunset.
Weekend
A featurelength British documentary, The Battle of the Somme, is being screened free around the country, as part of events coordinated by the Imperial War Museum. For details, and other events: 1914.org.