HEROES of the First World War were honoured at a service to commemorate the bravery of the Accrington Pals.

Relatives and friends of the fallen soldiers were among parishioners and dignitaries who remembered a generation of men lost in the Battle of the Somme.

The ceremony was held at St John the Evangelist Church, Accrington, where a memorial chapel to the Pals was established in 1992.

The Greater Manchester Fleet Air Arm Association was invited to take part for the first time and there was a record number of standards.

The sermon was given by Canon Donald Gray CBE, Chaplain to the Queen.

The annual service marked the 85th anniversary of the Pals' farewell parade, held at the church before they went off to battle - many never came back.

The recruits of the 11th Battalion of the East Lancashire Regiment were drawn from Accrington, Oswald- twistle, Church, Great Harwood, Rishton and Clayton-le-Moors.

Three Pals' platoons also came from Burnley, three from Chorley and two from Blackburn.

The 1,100 Pals joined one of the first squads assembled from the same area of the country in an attempt to boost war-time morale. In total, 865 Pals lost their lives.

One of the First World War's bloodiest episodes saw 235 of the Pals killed and 350 wounded in just 20 minutes on July 1, 1916.

Seven hundred Pals went "over the top" of the trenches near Serre, Northern France, only to be mowed down by German fire.

The total number of men lost from Accrington was 64, proportionately one of the biggest losses in the country. Some families lost father and son.

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