AN amateur dramatic society is preparing to commemorate the largest bombardment of WWI, which took place on March 21, 1918, marking the start of Kaiserslacht.

Richmond Amateur Dramatic Society will be presenting a production of RC Sherriff's play Journey's End – widely regarded as one of the best plays written about WWI – from March 21 to 24, 2018, at the Georgian Theatre Royal, Richmond.

Kaiserslacht, or the Kaiser's battle, represented a last-ditch attempt to win the war, and German artillery fire took place for five hours along 150 miles of British trenches, with one million shells fired.

The performances will coincide with the 100th anniversary of the battle and the 90th anniversary of the first performance of the play in London’s West End. When preparing for the production, director Gregan Davis became aware of the connections with Richmond to the war in 1918.

He said: "The most notable of these was the involvement of The Green Howards who were in action on March 21 and one of them, Lieutenant Ernest Beal, won a Victoria Cross."

At a meeting held to hear about plans for the production, representatives from a wide range of interests gathered in the theatre, from the local councils, museums, schools, charity fund raising groups and various clubs and societies, to hear Mr Davis’s ideas for a series of events commemorating and celebrating life in Richmond and Richmondshire in 1918 in the week around the production of Journey’s End.

He added: "The concept was greeted with considerable interest and enthusiasm with the feeling that this was a project worth pursuing."

A further meeting was arranged to consider in more detail the contribution that each organisation could offer.