WINSLEY fell silent to mark 100 years to the day since the Battle of the Somme with a commemoration service at Winsley War Memorial this morning.

On the anniversary of the deadliest day in British Military History, where the British suffered nearly 60,000 casualties on July 1, 1916, more than 80 locals paid their respects at the memorial in the centre of the village.

From 7.30am whistles were blown to mark the exact time of the start of the battle, which was followed by poems, two minute silences, Winsley School children laying crosses at the memorial and speeches by those present. 

Organiser Phillip Bush said: "It was a solumn but very meaningful occasion to a lot of people. Nine relatives of the three Winsley men who died in the battle were there, it was a very heartfelt morning.

"I felt it was important to include extracts from both sides as so many lives were lost in that offensive. It was important to remember both sides."

Winsley Parish Council chairman Ed Gilby, who did a reading from The World Crisis, 1916-18 by Sir Winston Churchill, said: "It was a wonderful tribute. It was well attended and it was very well done.

"I commend the organiser Phillip for putting this all together, it was a very good and fitting programme."

Relatives of people from the village who died in the famous battle - which went on until November 18, 1916, and claimed a million lives - were also present at the service which ended just after 7.45am. 

Former England rugby captain Lewis Moody, of Bradford on Avon, also attended as the Rugby Football Union's ambassador for the Great War commemorations and read the names of the five England rugby players who died in the battle.

"It was a real honour to be here and it was lovely to see such a small community put on a beautiful ceremony remembering those who gave their lives for us all," said Mr Moody, whose great-grandfather and exact namesake, Lewis Walton Moody, who fought in the First World War.

"To remember those great rugby names that will live with us forever was a real privilege to do. 

"To be an ambassador for the RFU on this is incredibly important to me."

The ceremony ended with an extract from the poem, For the Fallen, by Laurence Binyon, a trombone performance of the Last Post and then a two minute silence.