Hillsborough village will remember fallen of Martinsart

The service will remember the local men who were killed in France just days before the Battle of the Somme began.

On the evening of June 28, 1916, a few days before the commencement of the Battle of the Somme, men of the 13th Battalion of the Royal Irish Rifles were moving out of the French Village of Martinsart to take up forward positions on the Somme when they were hit by a German artillery shell. Fourteen men died immediately and a further nine died in the days that followed as a result of their wounds. Of the twenty three who died, ten were from Hillsborough, eleven from Dromore and two were from Banbridge.

The names of the fallen will be read out by young descendants the fallen.

The Reverend B Tosh of Hillsborough Presbyterian Church will read a passage of scripture and Prayer will be led by the Reverend Doctor Bryan Follis, Rector of Hillsborough Parish.

Garvey Silver Band will lead the praise in playing the traditional hymn, O God Our Help in Ages Past.

Following the sounding of the Last Post, wreaths will be laid at the War Memorial.

Everyone is invited for refreshments in the Parish Church hall immediately after short service and Act of Commemoration.