DMU technician creates roll of honour of Leicestershire's fallen as nation commemorates 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme

A technical instructor from De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) has helped create a roll of honour which remembers the soldiers from the county who died during World War One’s Battle of the Somme.

Jim Boulton,  from the Information Technology and Media Services department at DMU, was given the names and photos of 570 men who were killed during the battle, along with the names of another 1,500 men. 

Jim, who specialises in Video and Photography, has created the roll of honour to be projected onto a large screen during a commemorative service at Leicester Cathedral at 10am this morning (FRI), marking the 100^th anniversary of the battle.

The service also features prayers, readings and music concluding with a two minute silence and a poppy drop.

The cathedral’s bells will be half-muffled and will ring following the commemorative service.

The Battle of the Somme Roll of Honour can be seen playing on a loop on a video screen at the Cathedral in subsequent weeks.

Jim was helped with the roll of honour by John Sutton, who is a member of the Western Front Association and provided the photographs and names from various records offices and other sources.

Jim said: “I am really proud of what I have done and was honoured to be asked. The Battle of the Somme was a tragedy. It was modern warfare using ancient battlefield techniques which resulted in the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives. It needs to be remembered.

“Working with John, whose enthusiasm for this subject knows no bounds, was a pleasure. I learned a lot from him.”

The Battle of the Somme, in Northern France, claimed more casualties on day one – around 60,000 men - than any other day in British military history and became one of the most deadly battles of the First World War.

With the French and British armies calling upon troops from the colonies and the French Foreign Legion, it meant units from 25 nations and 50 countries were involved and in the five months of combat, the total number of men killed, wounded and missing reached more than one million, sending entire nations into mourning. There were a total of 420,000 British casualties.

DMU has held a number of events to mark the 100th Anniversary of World War One while its academics have published books and revealed new findings about the war's impact on the UK and the world. The anniversaries have a special significance for DMU as its predecessor, The Leicester Municipal Technical and Art School, was the only higher education institution in Leicester during World War One. Inevitably many of its students and staff left the campus to fight in the war and never returned.