Sombre Somme commemoration

We were walking through the Worcestershire town of Bromsgrove, when we came across this strange scene. At first it looked like there had been a coup d'état. The post Brexit political ructions must have gone a bit too far for the establishment. Or maybe there was filming going on for yet another nostalgic British wartime drama. It's what they do best, of course. (And they hadn't been all that good at being Europeans, so maybe they were just doing what they do well again.)

But no, it was something more unusual. It was a rather memorable and thoughtful historical commemoration. On 1 July, 1916, the Battle of the Somme started. That day was the worst day in history for the British Army, with more than 57,000 casualties. By November 300,000 soldiers were dead (roughly equal numbers on both sides), and over a million injured.

The Bromsgrove event was one of several hundred such performances up and down the UK on 1 July this year. Actors were secretly hired and dressed in period uniforms. When people approached (like me - I spoke to a couple of soldiers) they remained sombre and silent, but handed over a card bearing the name and rank of the fallen soldier they were representing.

We couldn't decide whether the little "Have you got a light?" episode we witnessed was part of the act, or whether the lady just happened along and wanted a light. It was interesting theatre either way.