Events

Saturday 1 July 2006 was the 90th Anniversary of the first day of the Battle of the Somme.

The Somme Exhibition

Date: Opens 1 July 2006 (Closes 1 July 2007)
Location: National Army Museum - Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea
Website: National Army Museum

Details: This exhibition is suitable for ages 7+ and can be visited as part of Remembrance studies. Particularly suitable for ages 13–16.

The Somme exhibition has been planned to explore the facts and the perceptions of the Somme, and allow visitors to decide where they stand on a battle in which over 1,200,000 soldiers became casualties. The result is an exhibition that offers multiple perspectives on the Battle of the Somme: those of the British politicians faced with substantial Allied losses, to the generals, their critics, and the voices of those who fought at the Somme, and who died. The political, strategic, and technological imperatives that influenced the campaign are investigated, and the effect of the battle – on the progress of the War, public opinion about it, and in long-term popular culture-explored.

The Battle of the Somme
www.iwm.org.uk/somme
A number of key items from the Museum’s extensive First World War collection are readily available to the wider public for the first time in this unique online exhibition covering the battle itself, the stories of the people involved and the battlefields today.

To accompany the online exhibition, a selection of the key exhibits featured within the online exhibition are on display at Imperial War Museum London, alongside works by First World War artists who witnessed the battle or recorded its aftermath.

Please note the following events have now taken place

OCTOBER 2006

Imperial War Museum

Poetry v History!
4 October, 7.00pm
How have war poets like Siegfried Sassoon, Wilfred Owen and Rupert Brooke shaped our perceptions of the First World War? Have they distorted political and military reality, have they been used to create an anti-war ‘myth’ around the events of 1914-18, or have they given us an essential human insight into the nature of conflict? A debate with leading historians, writers and academics. In association with the War Poets Association.

Tickets £7.00, FIWM and concessions £5.00 Box Office 020 7416 5439 or email boxoffice@iwm.org.uk

The Somme 1916-2006: new perspectives, new understanding
14 October, 10.00am – 5.00pm
Curators and archivists from the Museum and other experts talk about contemporary theories and research on the Battle of the Somme, ninety years on. Key note speech to be given by Peter Simkins.

Tickets £35.00, concessions and FIWM £30.00 Box Office 020 7416 5439 or email boxoffice@iwm.org.uk

The Battle of the Somme
Queen Elizabeth Hall
22 October, 7.30pm
At the end of June 1916, two newsreel cameramen were allowed to record the opening stages of the Battle of the Somme. The resulting 80-minute film mesmerized audiences, being seen by half the population. Recently inscribed in the UNESCO 'Memory of the World Register', the Imperial War Museum has prepared a re-mastered version for the 90th anniversary, which for this screening is to be complemented by the premiere of an orchestral accompaniment composed by Laura Rossi and performed by the Philharmonia Orchestra.

Tickets £20 / £17.50 / £15 / £9 Box office 0870 382 8000 or book online at www.rfh.org.uk

IWM History Group: A 'Kensington' on the Somme
25 October, 4.30pm
Phil Dutton, Documentation Officer in the Department of Exhibits and Firearms will give a short talk on the life and First World War service of stylish Edwardian satirist and master of the short story, Hector Hugh Munro otherwise known as 'Saki' (1870-1916). Munro as a venerable 40-something joined the British Army as a volunteer on the outbreak of war in 1914 and endured to the full the rigors of active service life until his untimely death in November 1916. Free Admission

NOVEMBER 2006

Forgotten Voices of the Great War
1 November, 7.00pm
Forgotten Voices is Malcolm McKay's stage version of Max Arthur's best-selling book, Forgotten Voices of the Great War, taken from oral testimony of veterans of the First World War as given to researchers of the Imperial War Museum in the 1970s. McKay has distilled these extraordinary and powerful witness statements into the voices of six characters (five men and one woman) who movingly reveal their memories of the glorious recruitment at the beginning of the war, through to the killing fields of the Somme, the terrifying mud of Paschendale, the gas attacks, the hunger at home, the munitions factories and finally the relief and muted joy of victory in a war that had claimed more lives than any other in history.

Tickets £7.00, concessions and FIWM £5.00
Box Office 020 7416 5439 or email boxoffice@iwm.org.uk

Armistice
11 November, 11.00am
The Museum will commemorate the Armistice with a two-minute silence, followed by a brief recital performed on the Western Front violin.
Free Admission

Poppies
11 November, 2.00pm
Film starting Paul McGann as a writer who embarks on a play about the Battle of the Somme. Followed by questions and answers with Paul McGann, Gary Kemp and writer/director Barry Bliss.
Tickets £7.00, concessions and FIWM £6.00 Box Office 020 7416 5439 or email boxoffice@iwm.org.uk

Somme Theatre – live performances
15 – 18 November, 7.30pm
In partnership with The Old Vic Theatre and inspired by the archives of the Imperial War Museum, a newly created script challenging the myths surrounding the First World War. Working alongside professional actors, 50 people from community groups and schools from Lambeth and Southwark will perform in the Museum’s atrium surrounded by key exhibits from the First World War.
Tickets are free pre-booking is essential. Call 0870 060 6628

Documentary Master Class
21 November, 10.00am – 5.00pm
Are you a student filmmaker who has been inspired by the history of the Battle of the Somme to make a documentary on the subject? Perhaps you have an ancestor who took part and you would like to explore his story on the screen. If so why not sign up for the Museum's Documentary Master Class, and learn from film and television professionals how to develop, produce and sell historical documentaries.
Tickets £35.00, FIWM and concessions £15.00
Box Office 020 7416 5439 or email boxoffice@iwm.org.uk

We Will Remember Them
4, 5, 11, 12 November
11.00am – 4.00pm
Create personalised poppies for an art installation on the theme of Remembrance.

Battle Bowlers, Whiz Bangs and Lucky Bleeders
18, 19 November
11.30am and 2.30pm
A chance to handle and learn about artefacts from the First World War and the ‘trench slang’ language soldiers used.

Picture courtesy of The Royal British Legion'.

Cycle the Somme

Date: 14 June 2006 to 18 June 2006
Location: Peronne, France
Website: British Legion website

Details: To commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme, The Royal British Legion are organising one of their popular bike rides to the region. Based in the little town of Peronne, and aimed at medium pacers, participants will cycle 50–60 miles each day to visit some of the key sites, enjoy a lovely and now peaceful area of northern France, and learn more about this epic battle. Enjoy a lifetime experience with second-to-none support from the Legion crew.

Memorial Unveiling

Date: 16 June 2006

Details: First joint Anglo-German memorial unveiled at the Somme with German, French and British officials present

Somme Remembrance Exhibition

Date: 30th June – 2nd  July 2006
Location: The Salle des Fetes (village hall) in the centre of the village of Longueval.
Website: www.somme-1916.com

Details: This exhibition has been organised by military historian Paul Reed to commemorate the 90th Anniversary of the Battle of the Somme. Displays will include: Ballymena men who fell on the Somme, The German Army on the Somme, British, French and German militaria displays, Photographs of the Somme battlefields, Living History displays by Great War specialists, Free 'Soldiers Died in the Great War' research service.

Somme Lecture

Date: 29 June 2006
Location: National Army Museum - Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea
Website: National Army Museum

Details: Martin Miidlebrook, best-selling historian, analyses the first day of the Somme

'Last Post for the Pals'

Date: 1 July 2006
Location: Serre Road No.1 Military Cemetery
Website: The Great War Society

Details: The Great War Society (UK-based living history group) will be gathering at Serre Road No.1 Military Cemetery to sound the 'Last Post' for all the Pals that fell.

The Somme - Special Event

Date: 8 & 9 July 2006
Location: National Army Museum, Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea
Website: National Army Museum

Details: Meet First World War soldiers – and find out what they thought of the battle, their generals and the war. Take part in a reconstructed battalion HQ, watch screenings of contemporary films of the battle, and hear a staged interview with Field Marshal Haig.

Poets of the Somme Tour

Date: 8–11 September 2006
Location: IWM North - The Water Way
Price: £920
Website: Martin Randall Travel

Details: First World War poetry in the context of military history and the lives (and deaths) of the poets. Aims for an understanding of the poems through a study of events, landscapes and the wartime lives of individual poets.

English Heritage

Website: English Heritage: The Somme Remembered

English Heritage is commemorating the Somme with a series of events.

The Festival of History, Northamptonshire
The Festival of History takes to the skies this summer, with a spectacular show from replica World War I fighter planes. WWI replica planes will take off from the festival field, and then return to the safety of the ground where armourers, riggers and fitters are busy preparing the aircraft.

This authentic Great War experience is brought to the Festival of History in Northamptonshire by the National Army Museum and the Royal Flying Corps.

Find out more about the Festival of History at www.festivalofhistory.org.uk

The 1st Wiltshire Regiment suffered 320 casualties in just one day of fighting at the Somme, on 24 August 1916.

Old Sarum in Wiltshire
At Old Sarum in Wiltshire, English Heritage is staging a week-long glimpse into this pivotal battle. After a briefing in the relative safety of a darkened ‘dugout' behind the front line, we are led through the flooded, smoke-filled trenches for a hands-on, personal insight into the realities of the Great War. With each interpreter taking the part of an actual serviceman from 1916, visitors can also learn of their individual fates. Underlining the contribution of animals in war, will be Meg the Artillery Mule.

Visitors can also bring along their WWI memorabilia as experts from Salisbury's Wardrobe Museum are on hand all week to explain the stories behind them.

This event will culminate in a World War I air display in the skies above Old Sarum on both Sunday 27 and Monday 28 August 2006.

Heroes of the Great War, Scarborough Castle, Yorkshire
Also commemorating the 90th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme, this event is being held at Scarborough Castle, Yorkshire. With foot soldiers of the Great War, a recreation of a field hospital and expert cavalry demonstrations by a duo of soldiers.  In tribute to those who gave so much.

This event will take place on both Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 September 2006

1916: The Somme and Jutland

Date: 10 June 2006 – 3 September 2006
Location: IWM North – The Water Way
Website: Imperial War Museum North

Details: The Imperial War Museum North will mark the 90th anniversary of the Battles of the Somme and Jutland with a new display in The Water Way from 10 June.  They will also be offering a rare opportunity to see one of the first feature length documentary accounts made - The Battle of the Somme – shot by two newsreel cameramen filming under the authority of the War Office.  In addition, they also have a series of related talks and tours, including an open day with curators from IWM's acclaimed sound collections.

Please contact us if you have a related event you would to have added to this page.