Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Battle of the Somme film to be aired again for Moray audiences for first time in 100 years

Derek Bird has arranged for the film to be shown for the first time in public in Moray for 100 years.
Derek Bird has arranged for the film to be shown for the first time in public in Moray for 100 years.

A groundbreaking documentary, showing the horrors of a World War I battle, will be shown in Moray this week for the first time in a century.

Clips from the Battle of the Somme film have been used for 100 years to highlight the grim reality soldiers faced in the conflict – but, until now, audiences have not been able to see the full 74 minutes of footage.

However, this week, the documentary will be shown in Forres town hall in an evening dedicated to the Great War.

The footage has been released for public viewing by the Imperial War Museum for the first time since the film was shot in 1916.

Images from the front line became a national sensation at the time with around 20 million people rushing to see it in cinemas.

Derek Bird, chairman of the Western Front Association Scotland (North) branch, believes the stark scenes of conflict still have the capacity to captivate a modern audience.

Somme 100th anniversary
Somme 100th anniversary

He said: “Because of when it was filmed, there is a propaganda element to it – brave British troops and that sort of thing. It does show dead and wounded men, which was deemed quite controversial and might still be shocking.

“It doesn’t pull any punches.”

The impact of the film has seen it inscribed on UNESCO’s “memory of the world” register.

The moving images have been digitally enhanced by the Imperial War Museum and set to a new musical accompaniment by Laura Rossi.

A selection of photographs from Forres during World War I will also be on display with the Kinloss Military Wives choir performing songs from the era.

Mr Bird added: “We thought it would be good to organise an evening around it. Given that this is the centenary of the Battle of the Somme, there is a lot of interest in it at the moment.

“The town hall was actually used as a voluntary hospital, so it’s very much part of it too.”

Doors open for the screening in Forres Town Hall at 6pm on Friday. The film starts at 6.30pm. Entry is by donation with profits going towards armed forces charities.