The legacy of The Somme lives on

TALKING to others you begin to realise that the baby boomers of Britain are either the direct descendants of survivors of The Somme or aware of a family member who either didn’t return or was wounded at one of the world’s most deadly battles.

In my case, my maternal grandfather and an uncle were wounded and survived; another uncle died and a third won a medal for bravery. In five months of combat during 1916, the total number of men killed, wounded and missing reached more than one million.

Entire nations were sent into mourning, while the landscape of the area was completely devastated – villages were razed to the ground and fields were turned into lunar-landscapes by shelling. The Battle of the Somme was a British and French joint offensive, and was part of a wider campaign of co-ordinated attacks launched against the Central Powers with Russia and Italy. It was planned to cause a decisive break through of the German lines.

However, reports that up to a third of British shells did not explode on impact and that the Germans had already heard rumours of the Somme Offensive and constructed defences, meant that it was not the "simple victory" British commanders had expected.

On the first day of the assault, the British Army alone had suffered 60,000 casualties, and the Battle of the Somme still attracts controversy in terms of commanding officers' tactics and the loss of the life in relation to the amount of territory captured.

As such, it continues to diverge public and academic opinion as to which side, if any, was the victor. But regardless of the outcome, a century after these events during the First World War, the trauma of the battle is still strongly felt.

The Somme has come to symbolise the violent death of young men and volunteer soldiers, who were fighting for freedom, and the countless cemeteries and memorials around the world embody the continued memory for a "lost generation".

A century on is the time for remembering these men, and throughout the year, many events and commemorations have been organised by the various nations involved and local authorities and associations. Highlights are shown tonight with Manchester Cathedral and Thiepval Memorial in France becoming the centre of commemoration.

The government and the Royal British Legion invited villages, towns and cities to organise remembrance vigils yesterday or today alongside national and international commemorations.

The Right Reverend Nigel McCulloch, head of remembrance at the Royal British Legion, says the Battle of the Somme had "come to symbolise the tragic scale and futility of modern industrialised warfare".

Gardeners' World (BBC2, 9.30pm)

MONTY Don continues to share his two-acre Herefordshire garden with two million viewers this evening, as he celebrates the glory of summer flowers at his beloved Longmeadow. Plus, he also finds time to provide green-fingered enthusiasts with horticultural tips, from pruning and propagation techniques for different types of one of the UK's most popular garden plants, clematis, to troubleshooting common problems with roses. Elsewhere, Carol Klein wades through streams and marshes to reveal how gardeners can emulate nature when choosing the right water plants. Plus, there's a visit to Norfolk to see an extraordinary collection of iris, a species of showy plants which take their name from the Greek word for a rainbow.

Mock the Week (BBC2, 10pm)

A decent proportion of viewers may be sick of hearing about the EU Referendum, but it must have been a godsend to the panellists on this topical comedy show, who knew they would never be short of material. But perhaps they'll have a whole host of new topics to get their teeth into tonight as Rob Beckett, Gary Delaney, Ed Gamble, Rhys James and Zoe Lyons join host Dara O Briain and regular Hugh Dennis to looking back at the week's events through the medium of fast-thinking and improvisation.

Viv Hardwick