96 years ago this sunday.1st july 1916.

[the old abbey]

The anniversary of the battle of the somme.before anyone says is this relative to a football forum,for the following reasons it is.how many of our supporters that stood on the terraces at hyde rd perished that day.a question for gary james is did we lose any players that day? Maybe the manchester regiment or the lancashire fusilliers? We must of done.some of the young shavers on ere probably lost great grandads or great great grandads and probably are not aware of it.so too all the fallen of our brothers.lest we forget.mcfc.

 

[The perfect fumble]

My Grandmother, who lived with us until she died in 1976, when I was 19, lost her husband and two brothers at the Somme, all three on the first day.

A third brother survived, but died from complications arising from his injuries in 1929.

 

[Gary James]

Yep. We did.

From top of my head Tom Farrell - he'd only appeared in a few games for us (check out the stats on the new history page).

I'll have a quick look at my notes.<br /><br />-- Fri Jun 29, 2012 11:23 am --<br /><br />Just checked....

A player called Pat McQuire died in October 1916 from injuries on the front line - don't know if he died on the day he was injured or months earlier.

Jack Yuill died in action on 9th July 1916. Not certain of the circumstances.

Of course other players (most notably Turnbull and Conlin) died on other dates in WW1.

 

[IOWBlue]

As long as we never forget what those boys gave, and all since. I'm 47 ( not too ancient ) and my Grandad was 16 that year. It's not that long ago really.

 

[mancityvstoke]

I lost a relative aged 27 in 1917 Flanders Field. Killed in action.

Wrong date but sad at his age.

"In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields."

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

To put it into context, a death in Afghanistan of a British soldier makes headline news.

On the first day at the Somme, 60,000 British soldiers were killed, the most ever.

And went on to lose something like 420,000 in total.

Sure we lost plenty during that time.

R.I.P

 

[The perfect fumble]

To put it into context, a death in Afghanistan of a British soldier makes headline news.

On the first day at the Somme, 60,000 British soldiers were killed, the most ever.

And went on to lose something like 420,000 in total.

Sure we lost plenty during that time.

R.I.P

To put it in to perspective, we lost around the same number of men on the first day of the Somme campaign, as the Americans lost in the entire Vietnam war.

 

[Vienna_70]

To put it into context, a death in Afghanistan of a British soldier makes headline news.

On the first day at the Somme, 60,000 British soldiers were killed, the most ever.

And went on to lose something like 420,000 in total.

Sure we lost plenty during that time.

R.I.P

To put it in to perspective, we lost around the same number of men on the first day of the Somme campaign, as the Americans lost in the entire Vietnam war.

That's a frightening statistic.

RIP all of you Lions.

 

[The perfect fumble]

To put it into context, a death in Afghanistan of a British soldier makes headline news.

On the first day at the Somme, 60,000 British soldiers were killed, the most ever.

And went on to lose something like 420,000 in total.

Sure we lost plenty during that time.

R.I.P

To put it in to perspective, we lost around the same number of men on the first day of the Somme campaign, as the Americans lost in the entire Vietnam war.

That's a frightening statistic.

RIP all of you Lions.

I'm from Salford, the Salford Pals were decimated on the first day....

" Of the 24 officers and 650 men from the 1st Salford Pals who attacked Thiepval (on the first day of the Somme campaign), 21 officers and 449 men became casualties".....

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.salfordwarmemorials.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=pics&action=display&thread=356" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.salfordwarmemorials.proboard ... thread=356</a>

 

[clp1000]

My mothers Uncle was part of the Accrington Pals and died in Northern France in 1918 (aged 19), we went visiting his grave last October on our way to Euro-Disney. It sort of sums up what a pampered/lucky generation we are!

Lest we forget