THIEPVAL MEMORIAL

The Thiepval Memorial, the Lutyens' masterpiece, sits on the highest point of The Somme Battlefield.| This majestic memorial to the Missing of the Somme battles of 1916 and 1918 dominates the whole area over which the men fought and died. Its purpose is to record in stone the missing who have No Known Grave.

Unveiled in 1932 by the then Prince of Wales (later King Edward V111), it survived the German occupation of 1944 and is maintained by The Commonwealth War Graves Commission; it is the largest Commonwealth memorial to the missing anywhere in the world.

However, for 70 years there was nothing at Thiepval to explain the reason for the memorial, for whom the men had fought, when and why; let alone a tribute to their effort and sacrifice. Until Sir Frank Sanderson and Colonel Piers Storie-Pugh teamed up to form The Thiepval Project in 1998; and over the next 6 years with a small fundraising committee they raised the funds to build The Thiepval Educational Centre. In September 2004 the Centre was opened by HRH The Duke of Kent in his capacity as Patron of The Thiepval Project as well as being President of The Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Since 1986 Piers Storie-Pugh, then Head of Remembrance Travel of The Royal British Legion (RBL) had, with the British Consulate General Lille, co-organised the annual service at Thiepval. The RBL would become staunch supporters of the Thiepval Project. At the 1996 Service Sir Frank Sanderson and PS-P discussed the feasibility of building a centre which would not only honour the memory of the men recorded on the Memorial but educate future generations of school children of all nationalities.

Faces of the Missing.

Images of some of the men whose name are inscribed on the Thiepval Memorial.

Compiled by Ken and Pam Linge

Portrait outlined in orange, above: Captain Charles Skey, 1st Bn Black Watch killed in action near High Wood, 15 August 1916.

Christopher Berkeley (seen here in this photograph with his wife Sue, niece of Charles Skey) was a Trustee of the Charles Skey Charitable Trust until the end of 2024.

Charles Skey's father Major Cyril Skey DSO MC of the 8th Royal Fusiliers fought on the Somme and at Cambrai and survived. However. his uncle Captain Charles H. Skey of the 1st Black Watch was Killed in Action near High Wood on August 15th 1916. His name is on the Thiepval Memorial.

The Charles Skey Charitable Trust was a significant donor at the outset of the Thiepval Project.

Thiepval: A Chronology

Pic Revd Bill King (left) RBL National Standard Bearer (Centre behind) and Piers Storie-Pugh at Thiepval 1st July service.

Earl Kitchener (left) and Earl Haig (right) at the Thiepval Visitor Centre Opening Ceremony, September 2004

1915 July: British soldiers start arriving on The Somme.

1916 July to November: 1st Battle of The Somme, starting 1 July.

1917 May: The Commonwealth (then Imperial) War Graves Commission established.

1918 March: 2nd Battle of The Somme.

1928: Work starts on The Thiepval Memorial.

1932 August: Thiepval Memorial unveiled (''The greatest executed British work of monumental architecture of the 29th Century'').

1940-44: The Germans occupy the area of The Somme.

1985 July: The first Remembrance Travel group attends to the 1st July commemorations.

1991: British Consulate General Lille asked PS-P and Remembrance Travel to organise the annual service.

1992: The Revd Bill King MBE (Chaplain at Calais) becomes the officiating Chaplain (photo, right).

1992: The Historical Museum de la Grande Guerre in Peronne opened.

1998: The British Embassy Paris starts to take a prominent role in the 1st July ceremony.

1998: The Thiepval Fundraising Committee starts it's work.

2004: September Thiepval Visitors Centre formally opened by HRH The Duke of Kent. Attendees included Earl Haig (son of the WW1 Field Marshal), Earl Kitchener (Nephew of the WW1 Minister of War), (photo, right) Brigadier Ian Townsend CBE (Director General of The Royal British Legion).

2006: The (then) Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attend 1st July service

2006: Somme 90 - comprehensively coloured and detailed booked launched, with contributions from Sir Frank and Piers Storie-Pugh.

2014: Work on a museum extension at Thiepval starts - The Historial de la Grande Guerre having taken over the running of the Thiepval Centre and its superb bookshop.

2016: The Museum formally opened. Attended by the (then) Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry. Sir Frank Sanderson and Piers Storie-Pugh introduced to the Royal Party

To Piers ~ In Gratitude.

Without your constant assistance and your multiple contacts, the creation of a visitor centre on the 1916-1918 battlefields of The Somme would never have come to fruition.

Your ability to enthuse all round you and your habit of always being around during times of difficulty made you a key member of the team that congregated around you.

Since the opening of the centre by HRH The Duke of Kent in September 2004 well over one and a half million visits have been made to Thiepval and the education and refreshment enjoyed by all those visitors is to no small extent your continuing reward for giving yourself so freely.

The hope of your colleagues, who are now becoming rather aged, is that your still comparatively young legs will continue to represent a British participation in the running of the centre by our French friends who did so much in the creation of your Thiepval Visitor Centre.

Sir Frank Sanderson OBE

Sir Frank Sanderson, Obituary

The Daily Telegraph, 21 November 2023

original draft by Piers Storie-Pugh