THE STORY OF THE SOMME 13 | Last Letter Home - Lieutenant Charles Saunders

Welcome to THE STORY OF THE SOMME podcast series, which tells the story of the Somme Offensive in the words of those fighting on the Western Front and their families back home. The series was commissioned by the DEPARTMENT FOR DIGITAL, CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT and developed in partnership with the FIRST WORLD WAR CENTENARY BATTLEFIELD TOURS PROGRAMME and CHROMERADIO. It was first released to accompany the SOMME100 VIGIL at Westminster Abbey, held through the night of 30 June/1 July 2016 to mark the centenary of the opening of the Battle of the Somme. In this podcast, LIEUTENANT CHARLES SAUNDERS writes a last letter home before his battalion went 'over the top' on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. Charles Saunders was born in Lowestoft in 1888. When war broke out, he was working for the Beccles branch of Barclays Bank. He enlisted in the Scots Greys before being commissioned into the 15th Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment. SOURCE | Clive Harris PRODUCTION | ChromeRadio for the DEPARTMENT FOR DIGITAL, CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT | Producer - Catriona Oliphant | Narrator - Nicholas Rowe | Reader - Peter Walton | The Last Post played by LSgt Stuart Laing, Welsh Guards on a First World War bugle.