The Battle of the Somme Centenary

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No points for naming the missing person ...

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... and he claims to be the leader of a major British party.

Good to watch the centenary today, a good time to remember what these brave men did for us so that we can enjoy the freedom we have today.

Watching the (very moving) ceremony at the moment.

Both of my grandfathers fought in WW1, and were lucky enough to have been able to return from it. My mother's dad then continued his army career through and beyond WW2 also.
Brave men, all of them.

It is a poignant time for many families in the UK and Europe, my grandfather had to have his leg amputated in the trenches after being hit by shrapnel, he was only 19 at the time, doesn't bear thinking about the pain he must have gone through.

As Graham said, Brave men every last one of them.

My Grandfathers brother died at Passchendaele.

Why are you using an occasion like this to try and score political points?

If that is a pop at Jeremy Corbyn, he was at the Somme.

http://www.itv.com/news/update/2016...somme-corbyn-arrives-for-commemoration-event/

Maybe you should check on facts more before posting.

What made you come to that conclusion? Corbyn is not the only leader not to have attended the wreath-laying ceremony.

Edited to add: And according to this Daily Telegraph piece, Mr Corbyn was not at the Somme but at a commemorative event in Ulster. "Mr Corbyn has also been accused of showing a lack of respect to the war dead after he turned up unannounced at a Somme commemoration service in Ulster yesterday. He is accused of arriving 10 minutes after the event had begun, using his mobile phone and leaving before the end of the service."

Well the telegraph is wrong.

He was at The Somme at a service for Ulster War dead despite not being invited.

The press are saying he acted but can only quote 'one man' and 'another man' when saying it.

I'm no apologist for Jeremy Corbyn by any means, but I know a press vendetta when I see one.

Some people just believe what they want to believe. There is no reason whatsoever why he should be in that photo so why bring it up? That, in itself, is disrespectful to all those who died, by using them to make political points.

In London yesterday there were young lads dressed in WWI uniforms sat around at the railway stations. If you went up to them they gave you a card with the name of someone killed at The Somme on it.

They weren't at Paddington, unfortunately, so I never got to experience it.

Hold on, Graham, you are now agreeing with me that Corbyn was in Ulster when actually he should have been in Thiepval with Cameron and the Royal Family - Thiepval is in the Somme in northern France where so many lost their lives during the First World War

And no, I am not having a go solely at Corbyn; my ire was piqued by the absence of anyone from the SNP whose leader, Angus MacDonald, should have been there as should Farron to represent the Liberal Democrats. Party politics has nothing to do with it; by not attending they showed no respect.

I too wish I had been at Waterloo Station yesterday afternoon.

The service for the Ulster War dead was in Thiepval.

Read the link I originally posted.