THE Royal British Legion has thrown its weight behind The Northern Echo campaign to create a lasting battlefield memorial to honour the bravery of County Durham soldiers who gave their lives on the Somme.

The charity’s area manager, Marcus Hawthorn said: “The Royal British Legion is fully supportive of anything communities want to do to commemorate the Battle of the Somme - especially through marking the losses of their locally raised battalions and the Pals battalions in particular

A century ago, 300 volunteers from the 18th Battalion Durham, Light Infantry, better known as the Durham Pals, were killed or wounded on the first day of the bloody battle.

Mr Hawthown said: “The memorial planned for the Durham Pals will achieve three things.

“Firstly the campaign and getting a memorial in place will reawaken the awareness of the population Durham of the losses and sacrifices of the Durham pals.

“The second is that it will provide a visual reminder of the sacrifices and of the debt owed to those who gave (their lives) on the Somme to everyone wherever they see it.

“And thirdly, it will provide a focus on a year-on-year basis to mark the anniversary, providing an option for people to come together and remember actively the benefits that have accrued by the sacrifices of the previous generation.”

Mr Hawthorn said the Somme was the most significant battle of the First World War as far as British casualties are concerned.

He said: “Over 141 days of very horrendous losses and fighting encapsulated much of what people think was not good about the First World War and its conduct.

“I think what makes the Somme particularly poignant for communities is that the raising of what we know as Kitchener’s Army when resulted in many hundreds of thousands of people being recruited.

“Many of them were recruited into Pals battalions when the cry was join together fight together.

"Which means rthat many of the losses."

He added: "Huge numberse of losses on the Somme are really anchored in the community. Entire communities were transformed the suffering and the losses of those days. And the Durham Pals are no different. It is wonderful that there is a campaign to mark the losses of the Durham Pals in particular."

  • To donate either go to crowdfunding.justgiving.com/sommememorial and make a pledge or send a cheque made payable to Former Charities Of The Durham Light Infantry and send them to: The Rifles Durham Office, Elvet Waterside, Durham DH1 3BW.