Island to fall silent on 100th Somme anniversary

Fri, 01 Jul 2016

The Isle of Man will fall silent this morning to mark the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme.

The silence will be held at 7.28am - the end of the two minute pause reflects the time that many soldiers went over the top 100 years ago.

The Battle of the Somme was fought in northern France over five months and was one of the bloodiest of World War One - during that war 1261 Islanders were killed.

Schoolchildren around the Island will join in the remembrance event today by laying wreathes at the war memorials.

Colonel Charles Wilson from the Royal British Legion says we must never forget the sacrifice our soldiers made: