Leslie Bell, aged 95 lays a wreath to his fallen friends at the Ceremony to commemorate the 75^th anniversary at the Ulster Memorial Tower.

Leslie from Banbridge, served with the 10^th Bn, The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (The Derrys)

In an interview with Billy Ervine of the Somme Association when Leslie was 91 years old, he recalls 1^st July 1916:

“It was a bright, warm morning, the sun was up in the sky, the big guns were going off like billy-o.

We had been addressed by one of the big nobs from headquarters who told us not to run; we could light our pipes and cigarettes, slope our arms and just walk on, there would be no opposition.

I was wounded in the legs and back and lay in the field from half-past eight to four o’clock in the afternoon; to tell you the truth I thought I would never see my home again.

I was lying there amongst the dead and wounded, and your thoughts were far from pleasant. There were a number there who had been blown to pieces; what a waste of life.”