MEMORIALS to honour the heroism and sacrifice of County Durham soldiers during the Battle of the Somme are being unveiled this month thanks to donations from people, organisations and businesses across the county.

One hundred years after the 18th Battalion of the Durham Light Infantry – better known as the Durham Pals – were slaughtered on the opening day of the battle, Durham County Council, The Northern Echo, the Trustees of the DLI and Durham University, with support from Durham Cathedral, joined forces in a public appeal to raise money for a lasting tribute to their bravery on the battlefield where they gave their young lives.

This week Major Chris Lawton MBE accepted a cheque for £1,000 from Andy Richardson, editor of The Northern Echo towards the fundraising campaign.

Major Lawton said: “We are so grateful to the people of Durham, and organisations including The Northern Echo, for the generous support they have shown which is helping to keep alive the memory of the Durham Pals so that people across the county never forget the sacrifice they made for us all.”

The battalion, made up of friends and workmates from across County Durham, went over the top on July 1, 1916 and suffered appalling losses - with 300 young men killed or wounded in a single day.

The Durham Remembers campaign has marked the anniversary year by pledging to raise funds to pay for two memorial benches: one to be unveiled at the Thiepval Memorial site in Northern France on Monday September 19 ahead of November's Armistice Day commemorations and another to be unveiled in Durham City on Wednesday September 21. It is hoped that during the visit, a suitable site for a permanent and lasting, traditional memorial will also be found and arrangements can be made for this to be put in place to mark the end of the centenary year.

The Durham Pals were formed during the opening days of the war, as ordinary young volunteers from County Durham’s farms and pit villages, steel towns and market towns selflessly answered their country’s call to arms.

They joined up together, trained together and, ultimately, died together on the bloodiest day in British military history.

A crowdfunding page raised more than £1,000 in donations from members of the public who took the opportunity to pay their own lasting tribute to the county’s fallen heroes and many other members of the public have sent donations directly to the DLI Trustees for the memorial.