The special ceremony at St James Church, Church Street, took place on Saturday morning where civic dignitaries were joined by members of the Royal British Legion and people from across the borough. The Accrington Pipe Band and the East Lancashire Concert Band also played during the service which aimed to pay respects to the bravery and sacrifices of the battalion. The £260,000 project, funded by the government, has transformed the Pals Memorial Garden on Church Street.
A sculpture showing two First World War soldiers created by garden designer and landscaper John Everiss sits at the centre of the garden. It was crafted at Fitzpatricks in Nelson It commemorates the soldiers who died in the Battle of the Somme. The Accrington Pals battalion had four 250-strong companies including not only men from the town but volunteers from nearby East Lancashire towns.
On the first day of the Battle of the Somme on July 1, 1916, 585 of its men became casualties with 235 killed and 350 wounded in around half an hour. (function (d, s, n) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; js = d.
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