Thousands lined the city centre streets as Manchester united in tribute to honour soldiers who fought and fell at the Battle of the Somme.
The first day of the conflict - July 1, 1916 - was the bloodiest day in British military history, with more than 19,000 men killed on the trenches and plains of northern France.
By the end of the four-month offensive, more than a million soldiers from both sides had lost their lives.
Many of the Somme’s casualties were friends, neighbours and workmates from communities across Manchester - men who hastily responded to Lord Kitchener’s call to volunteer in Pals battalions.
They were remembered solemnly, with tributes beginning across Greater Manchester from 7.30am. A two-minute silence was observed to mark the moment whistles sounded out to send soldiers ‘over the top’ of their trenches into no man’s land - and to their deaths for many within hours.
Thousands gathered around the Cenotaph in St Peter’s Square for a short afternoon service.
The Bishop of Manchester, the Rt Rev David Walker, said ‘more than a million lives were taken from 50 nations’ during the Somme.
He said: “We remember those whose names are inscribed on the hearts of those whom they left behind as they departed for the battlefield. Names inscribed on memorials in this and many lands, names for whom there is no memorial.”
The Last Post was played followed by the firing of a gun to mark a two-minute silence. Wreaths were laid by the Lord Lieutenant of Greater Manchester, Warren Smith, representing the Queen, Chancellor George Osborne and the Lord Mayor of Manchester, Carl Austin-Behan, before they took salutes from an Albert Square march past.
The 1,000-strong parade, led by a 32-piece band from the King’s Regiment, involved descendants of those who fought at the Somme, military personnel and veterans. More than 50 associations, including the 1914-1918 Manchester Regiment Association, and 16 Royal British Legion branches were represented.
To loud applause from gathered crowds, the parade made its way to Manchester Cathedral, where the Duke of York Prince Andrew joined guests including The Most Rev John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, at a service of remembrance. The service was beamed to crowds outside on giant screens.
The Very Reverend Rogers Govender, Dean of Manchester, said Manchester had ‘made a pledge never to forget the myriad number of people who responded to the battle call, with a spirit of generosity and sacrifice that empowers and inspires us still to this present day’.
The service included a poignant reading from an unknown diary entry about a tearful scene as mothers, wives and children waved off troops to war from a Manchester train station.
A moving letter sent home to his parents from a German soldier was also read aloud before the 1,000-strong congregation stood in unison and remembrance for the National Anthem.
