TWO special events in Dursley will commemorate those who died in the Battle of the Somme – with a focus on the seven men from the town who lost their lives in the bloodiest conflict of the First World War.

Janet Burdge, a town councillor and volunteer at Dursley Heritage Centre, organised the events, planned for Friday, July 1, to coincide with other remembrance events throughout the country marking a century since the Battle of the Somme began.

A whistle blowing will take place in the morning to mark the moment British soldiers went “over the top”, followed later by a service in St James’ Church.

“If you talk to people about the First World War they don’t often know a lot of battles, but everybody knows the Somme,” said Mrs Burdge.

“When putting it together I wanted to say more about the people and have found it to be a really humbling experience.

“Some of the people from Dursley were so young when they went off to fight, and when I gather information about them I feel like I know them.”

A whistle will be blown at the war memorial gates of St James’ Church at 7.30am on the Friday morning, the precise time that, a century ago, whistles were blown across the front line trenches indicating the time to move forward.

Following this, John Giddings, whose uncle was one of the casualties, will recite a poem at the gates.

Later that morning at 11am, a service of commemoration will be held inside the church with a wreath laying ceremony.

People in Dursley and the surrounding areas are encourage to attend one, if not both, of the events in the town to honour Dursley’s war dead.

A new exhibition about the Somme and the Dursley men who died in the battle will be installed at Dursley Heritage Centre on the day of the events, and will run for three months.