The Somme Offensive which opened on 7 July 1916 is the battle that symbolizes the horrors of the Great War, with its appalling carnage and waste in return for negligible tactical achievement. Thiepval was pivotal to the campaign and many of the units who fought here were ‘Pals’ (such as the Salford) – their decimation meant disproportionate losses for the communities from which the Regiments were drawn.