Tomorrow marks the centenary of the start of the Battle of the Somme, regarded as perhaps the bloodiest battle in human history.
The battle began on July 1st 1916 and when it ended 140 days later, more than a million soliders had been killed.
By the end of only the first day of the British infantry offensive, 19,240 soldiers had been killed with a further 38,230 reported injured or missing.
Research by local historian George Cogswell, from the Trafford War Dead website, has shown that 149 men from Trafford were killed on the first day, with 46 of those from Altrincham.
Sometimes the numbers can be so enormous as to be hard to digest, so below we are focusing on just 10 of those Altrincham men who all died on that fateful first day, July 1st 2016.
10 Altrincham men killed on the first day of the Battle of the Somme
Walter Ernest Lichfield
Rank: Sergeant
Regiment: King’s Own (Royal Lancaster Rgt)
Age: 37
Address: 24 Borough Road, Altrincham
Occupation: Window cleaner
Family: Wife Jane and daughter Maude, 4
Arthur Wilfred Atkinson
Rank: 2nd Lieut
Regiment: Manchester Rgt (4th Mcr Pals)
Age: 35
Education: Bowdon College
Occupation: Salesman
Other: A member of both the Bowdon & Timperley Golf Clubs
Robert Buchanan
Rank: Private
Regiment: Cheshire Rgt
Age: 35
Address: 10 Massey Road, Altrincham
Occupation: Plasterer
Family: Wife Florence and a baby daughter
William Worthington Coombs
Rank: Lc/Sgt
Regiment: Manchester Rgt (5th Mcr Pals)
Age: 22
Address: 37 George Street, Altrincham
Education: Seamons Moss School, Dunham Massey
Occupation: Employed by Mr Alfred Simpson at Iron & Steel Merchants in Manchester
Other: Member of the Altrincham Wesleyan Cricket Club
William Starkey
Rank: Private
Regiment: Manchester Rgt (1st Mcr Pals)
Age: 18
Address: Altrincham
Harry (Henry) Davenport
Rank: Private
Regiment: Cheshire Rgt
Age: 25
Address: 15 Oakfield Road, Altrincham
Occupation: Brickmaker at the Linotype Works, Broadheath
Family: Wife Kate
James Willcox Eaton
Rank: 2nd Lieut
Regiment: Manchester Rgt (5th Mcr Pals)
Age: 24
Address: Bankhall Lane, Hale
Education: Bowdon College
Occupation: Salesman
Family: Wife Alice
Charles William Eaton
Rank: Private
Regiment: Manchester Rgt (2nd Mcr Pals)
Age: 22
Address: Grove Lane, Hale
Family: Wife Elizabeth
Martin Matthias Fleming
Rank: Private
Regiment: Manchester Rgt (5th Mcr Pals)
Age: 24
Education: St Vincent’s School, Altrincham
Address: 161 Ashley Road, Hale
Occupation: Assistant Engineer, Electric Light Station
Family: Wife Harriet, a son and a daughter
Harry Gayter
Rank: Private
Regiment: Cheshire Rgt
Age: 23
Address: Westwood Avenue, Timperley
Occupation: Engineer’s Clerk at Linotype in Broadheath
