On the 75th anniversary poignant memories were evoked when the day started with a symbolic march out of Thiepval Wood by Regular and Territorial Army units led by the band, bugles, pipes and drums of the 2nd Battalion, The Royal Irish Rangers.
HRH Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, KG, GCMG, GCVO, CD, ADC took the salute as the parade passed along the Sunken Road with Peter Brooke MP the then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Brigadier A P M J Naughten Commander of 107 (Ulster) Brigade and the then Chairman & Managing Director of the Somme Association, Dr S I G Adamson & R D S Campbell in attendance.