The O’s Somme Memorial Fund is delighted to confirm over two hundred Orient supporters, along with friends and representatives of Leyton Orient Football Club, have booked to travel over to the Somme this July. The interest and response to this tour is overwhelming, and it is heartwarming to know this important chapter in the club’s and country’s history still resonates with so many people.
This will be a special tour and the biggest one to date, as not only does it coincide with the 110th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme, it is also the 20th anniversary of the very first Somme tour and the 15th anniversary of the dedication of the O’s Somme Memorial in Flers.
As on every tour, commemorations will take place at the resting places of William Jonas, Richard McFadden, and George Scott, as well as at our memorial in Flers. The tour will also include visits to Albert, Delville Wood, the Thiepval memorial, and Linfield’s memorial in Bertrancourt.
In addition, and for the first time, the tour will also include attending the second Somme Memorial Football Tournament, comprising of three teams; Leyton Orient and Linfield academy, and local French side, Albert USOAAS. The inaugural competition was held in 2024, which the O’s won, beating Linfield in an exciting final – the winning goal was scored in extra time by Teddy Lamb who now plays for Manchester City Academy.
The tournament, is part of the ‘Albert Tourism’ official Somme 110th commemorations, and is being organised by Albert USOAAS Football Club, along with the Poppy Country Tourist Office, in recognition of the important role football played in the Great War.
Special invitations were sent by the organisers to Linfield, ourselves (as both teams have their own memorial at the Somme), and Heart of Midlothian, who are commemorated, along with footballers, officials, and representatives from a number of other Scottish clubs, on the McCrae’s Battalion Trust memorial to the 16th Royal Scots, in Contalmaison. However, Hearts declined to enter a Youth team on this occasion.
Some of those travelling will have been on every tour since 2006 – seven to the Somme, and one special visit to the Ypres Salient, in 2017. In this time, in excess of 1,500 people have made the pilgrimage over to the battlefields of Flanders and northern France – many for the first time, due to the uncovering of the story of Clapton Orient’s major contribution to the Footballers’ Battalion in the Great War.
Former O’s striker Peter Kitchen writes ‘As Patron of the O’s Somme Memorial Fund, I am very proud to be involved with my colleagues in bringing this piece of Leyton Orient history into the public domain. It has been a labour of love since Steve Jenkins and myself launched the OSMF in August 2009, with the aim of making O’s supporters aware of their club’s unique First World War story, and with the dream of having a memorial erected on the Somme Battlefields to honour and remember the service and sacrifice of the forty-one players, club officials and supporters of the then named Clapton Orient in the Great War.
‘We not only achieved that dream in July 2011 when dedicating our Memorial in Flers, but we also dedicated a similar memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum, in Staffordshire, in 2021. We are extremely proud that both memorials are the first to commemorate a football club.
‘In between those ten years we have been joined by our colleagues; Malcolm McCarthy MBE and our friend from Holland, Alex Hup, and together we are continuing to promote the O’s unique Great War story in numerous ways and to a wider audience, and I would like to thank them for the hard work and dedication in organising and arranging the activities throughout the tour.
‘This will be our 8th Somme battlefield tour, which is a place of reverence that everyone should visit to understand the scale of the conflict, life in the trenches for the ‘Tommies‘, and the soldiers of all nations involved, as well as the horrors of war. To those of you travelling over, we think you will find your visit very informative and interesting and that it will be an experience that will stay with you all your lives.
‘Over 100 years ago, footballers were role models to the fans as much as they are today and virtually every football club, whether amateur or professional, have a rich history of service and sacrifice in the Great War, and following my first visit to the Battlefields I became fascinated by the contribution footballers made because they inspired so many fans to also enlist.
There are many instances of their courage and bravery in battles during the war and this is epitomised by these stories, including players from the O’s in the Footballer’s Battalion – the 17th Middlesex, and Linfield FC, who formed the 36th Ulster Division. They all fought so courageously side by side in the Battle of the Somme, and this is recognised by the people of Albert and Poppy Tourism who have again invited both clubs to participate in the Albert youth tournament, with football as the medium which unites people irrespective of any other consideration.
‘As on a number of previous tours, we will be supported in all our wreath laying ceremonies by the 17th Pals’ Battalion Band, who bring a sense of formality and occasion to proceedings and we thank them for supporting us with their excellent performances.
‘I often talk of my ‘first time experience’ on the battlefields, and we are sure the Academy boys will also feel similar emotions, particularly as they are representing their respective clubs that sacrificed so much for their country.
The connection between football and historic education is paramount in the work of the OSMF.
