NewsgalleryThe First World War (Gallery)BookmarkShareNewsByGavin Castle15:50, 5 NOV 2013Updated15:18, 11 SEP 2017Shrapnel bursting over reserve trench in Canadian line in mid-October of the Somme campaign. The battle began on July 1st 1916 on which day at least 20,000 British soldiers were killed and a further 40,000 were injured. It is the greatest number of British casualties in a single day's fighting in modern history. The battle continued until November1 of 42World War One British cavalry crossing a temporary bridge over the Somme near Brie. May 26, 19172 of 42Marshal Ferdinand Foch, supreme commander of the Allied Armies in 1918, pictured in the Peace Day Procession (London Victory Parade) on July 19, 19193 of 42Infantry in the support trench during preliminary bombardment during the first week of the Battle of the Somme - 19164 of 421918 - A year that opened in despair and ended in triumph, as overjoyed crowds celebrated the Armistice. This mixture of soldiers and civilians took over a London taxi-cab for a joyride in Trafalgar Square5 of 42August 1918 - French and British troops pictured together advanced positions6 of 42Members of the Middlesex Regiment seen here returning from the trenches in the pouring rain during the Somme campaign. The Battle of the Somme lasted from July 1 to November 18 1916 and cost the Allies some 420,000 casualties. The Middlesex Regiment had more battalions engaged in this battle and suffered greater casualties than in any other operation on the Western Front during the First World War7 of 42British and Allied troops seen here march through Trafalgar Square during the Victory Parade to celebrate the end of the first world war on July 19, 19198 of 42A London Transport woman tram conductor employed during the First World War. Circa 19159 of 42B Squadron of the South Yorkshire Regiment seen here during preparations for Sunday Dinner - October 18, 191410 of 42Three friends, one from the Royal Artillery (right) and two from the Royal Medical Corps pose in a snowy Coventry back garden before embarking for France and the Western Front. Circa 191511 of 42A British Cavalry Scout on alert. Circa November 191412 of 42Members of A battery of the Royal Field Artillery pose for the camera somewhere in France prior to their move up to the front. Circa 191613 of 42Public school boys in the grounds of the Chatham Hospital Manchester cheering as the first of the walking wounded are brought back from France - September 28, 191414 of 42Friends joining up at the beginning of the First World War. Following the outbreak of war in August 1914 the newly appointed Secretary for War Lord Kitchener issued his first call to arms. This was for 100,000 volunteers, aged between 19 and 30. General Henry Rawlinson initially suggested that men would be more willing to join up if they could serve with people they already knew. Two thirds of the battalions raised during the first two years of the war were locally-raised Pals battalions - September 20, 191415 of 42British troops waiting to attack Beaumont Hamel in a support trench during the preliminary bombardment - July 1, 191616 of 42Ground crew fit the tail vanes and manoeuvre a bomb into the bomb bay of a French Air Force Farman aircraft on the Western Front - November 11, 191717 of 42Mobilisation of the Inns of Court Rifle Brigade - August 6, 191418 of 42Horatio Bottomley, journalist, newspaper proprietor and populist politician seen here speaking at a recruitment rally on the steps of the Royal Exchange in the city of London - September 24, 191519 of 42Two small boys carrying banners with the message from Lord Roberts 'Be a credit to yourself and the nation' lead a recruiting parade down Whitehall. Circa August 191420 of 42Recruiting station at Scotland Yard, London besieged by would be recruits during the first week of the First World War. The crowds were so large, mounted police were necessary to keep the crowd in check - August 6, 191421 of 42The stands of a football ground were turned into a workshop making gas masks helmets and other protective equipment. Circa July 191622 of 42Belgian gun dog teams take a rest and take food on the road to Hofstade - September 28, 191423 of 42Men of the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry in the front line near Ypres with the regimental mascot. The trees in the background have been stripped of all their foliage and branches by enemy fire - December 20, 191524 of 42Vets seen here treating a horse wounded in action at the British Verterinary hospital in France. Note how one of the vets hold up one leg to prevent the horse from shifting the injured leg while being tended to - November 11, 191425 of 42A Belgian priest decorated for his bravery is seen here with a cavalry officer - November 28, 191526 of 42New recruits of the Manchester Regiment. Circa 191427 of 42Recruiting young soldiers in Manchester. Circa 191428 of 42British cavalry and horses on board ship on their way to France in August 191429 of 42King Albert of Belgium seen here near Isenbergh, affixing the cross of the Order of Leopold to the banner of the First Chassuers, in honour of the glorious deeds of the regiment at Liege, Antwerp and Merckem at the outbreak of the war - July 16, 191830 of 42Canadian soldiers seen here cleaning their uniforms in Hyde Park a few days before the Dominion troops that served at the front during the war are due to parade through London - May 4, 191931 of 42Recruiting station at Scotland Yard, London besieged by would be recruits during the first week of the First World War. The crowds were so large mounted police were necessary to keep the crowd in check - August 7, 191432 of 42Recruiting station at Scotland Yard, London besieged by would be recruits during the first week of the First World War. The crowds were so large mounted police were necessary to keep the crowd in check - August 7, 191433 of 42British Prime Minister David Lloyd George inspecting munitions workers during a visit to a fatory in Neath, Wales - August 11, 191834 of 42London Victory Parade also known as the Peace Day Parade on July 19, 1919, to mark the formal end of the First World War that had taken place with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, France the previous month on June 2835 of 42British Army Efficiency Tests. Horses and men in gas masks during tests to find the best protection against gas attacks. September 191736 of 42British troops of the Irish 10th Division seen here wearing gas masks in the trenches in the Struma River valley, close to Salonika. 1st August 191637 of 42The original caption read British soldiers go "over the top" from a trench in France 1916. The image was taken by Canadian official photographer Ivor Castle and was widely published as a portrayal of an actual British attack. However it was actually taken during a training exercise by Canadian troops near St. Pol, France in October 1916. The breech cover on the rifle of the soldier in the foreground had been edited out and the re-toucher added the shell burst clouds. After the discovery of the staged image Castle was recalled to London38 of 42British soldiers go 'over the top' in June 1916 to attack the German trenches somewhere in France39 of 42World War One British cavalry crossing a temporary bridge over the Somme near Brie. 26th May 191740 of 42Historic image of the Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres41 of 42Historic aerial image of the Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres42 of 42