A First World War soldier who was shot at the Battle of the Somme survived because the bullet hit a spoon and bible he carried in his jacket pocket.

Henry Cooper, from Manchester , was just 20 when he was hit in the chest during the 1916 battle.

Manchester has been chosen to host a series of national commemoration events on Friday, 100 years on from the bloodiest battle in British military history.

Mr Cooper’s family revealed his lucky escape as Prime Minister David Cameron announced the country would observe a two-minute silence on Friday morning to honour the dead.

The first whistles to send soldiers ‘over the top’ of the Western Front trenches in France, to attack enemy trenches, sounded just before 7.30am on July 1, 1916.

The bullet was deflected by the silver spoon and bible in Mr Cooper’s left jacket pocket before it pierced his skin.

Grandson of Henry Cooper who fought during the Battle of the Somme, holding a silver spoon which along with a bible deflected a bullet and saved his Grandfather's life

He returned to the UK and spent months in hospital in Southampton recovering.

His family kept the spoon following his death in the 1970s with his grandson Rod Cooper, a former soldier, carrying it in his jacket pocket too as he served in Iraq in 1991.

The 54-year-old, who now lives in Devon, said his family believed the spoon had saved his grandfather’s life.

Mr Cooper said: “I knew a few things about the spoon but as a kid I didn’t take much interest if I’m honest. My mother gave me the spoon just before I left the UK for Operation Granby in Iraq.

Rod Cooper serving in Iraq in 1991, Grandson of Henry Cooper who fought during the Battle of the Somme

“She gave it to me as a token of good luck and asked me to keep it in my pocket. It actually came in very useful as its so big. I kept it in my top pocket throughout the deployment and took it on further tours later on. I’m not overly superstitious but it seemed harmless and like a good idea.

“I didn’t show it to many people really while on deployment.

Mr Cooper said that his grandfather didn’t speak about their wartime experiences.

He added: “The bullet punctured some of his major organs including his lung. It was lodged inside him and had to be removed. He suffered as a result of his injuries later in life.”

As he announced the two-minute silence, Mr Cameron said he would be attending a service at the Thiepval Memorial near the battlefield on Friday.

By the end of the four-month campaign in northern France, more than a million soldiers had been killed and wounded on both sides of the fighting.