Somme remembrance

The Council is holding a two-minute silence at 11am today (Friday 1 July) in tribute to those who lost their lives and loved ones on the French battlefields. Britain observed a two-minute silence at 7.28am to mark 100 years since the start of the Battle of the Somme, at the moment when the first wave of soldiers went ‘over the top’ for the Allied offensive in Picardy in 1916. However, as most staff would have been travelling to work at that time, we will pay our respects at 11am. The ‘alarm’ bell will sound at the start and at the end of the silence at 11am and then at 11.02am at the Town Hall, Mercury House, and Romford Library. The service to the public will continue and visitors will also be able to join in the silence if they wish.