1st July 1916 - Battle of the #Somme begins

Lance Corporal David Albert Bryant S/9024 Rifle Brigade RIP

My Great-Great Uncle died on the first day of the Somme, yet it was only last year that our family found out he existed. Why it was kept a secret I don’t know, but I do know that my grandfather (who was 15 at the time) was named after him. Maybe the shock of his loss made it easier just to keep quiet. Different years, different times.

But Uncle David is (and has always been) remembered at Thiepval, along with over 70,000 other whose bodies were never identified or found.

Before my Father died earlier this year, we managed to get to the Somme to visit his memorial, and remember him properly.

Just 2 months and 2 days later, his brother Corporal Alfred George S/8324 also of the Rifle Brigade was killed.