On the 96th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme, Kent and East Sussex Railway will recreate the tragic innocence of the time at its First World War living history event. Chris Price reports.

A First World War day will show what it was like for soldiers leaving their families behind on trains to the frontline. Costumed re-enactors will make Kent and East Sussex Railway look like a scene from a war movie as they board the trains at Tenterden Town Station.

The Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment Living History Group are hosting the event in memory of the Battle of the Somme. Troops gathered in the South East before being sent by train to fight in the battle, which began on July 1, 1916.

The opening day of the battle saw the British Army suffer the worst day in its history, sustaining nearly 60,000 casualties.

“A lot of those guys would have been civilian volunteers,” said Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment Living History Group’s David Harmone.

“Those chaps joined up in 1914 in an atmosphere of patriotic enthusiasms with their mates. They were off to biff the Boche and would be home by Christmas. They were probably in flag-waving mood as they left their loved ones behind.

“They were not thinking that they were on their way to taking part in the worst day of casualties the British Army has ever suffered. They were probably not even aware they would be involved in such a big push into German territory. They just thought they were off to do their bit against the Germans. Their attitude would have been light hearted, almost a holiday atmosphere.

“Within days the best part of 20,000 guys had lost their lives and all that patriotic fervour had completely changed.”

Although the day will remember the poignant anniversary of the Somme, there will be plenty of fun at Tenterden with more than 50 historians dressed in military attire and civilian costume.

Alongside them will be equipment including a general service wagon, Lewis machine gun cart, water cart, dispatch rider motorcycle, pedal cycles, a casualty reception facility, recruitment tent and period photography booth.

A full timetable of trains will run throughout both days on Saturday, June 30 and Sunday, July 1.

The line ends at Bodiam station, where visitors can see the restored Cavell Van. The van brought from Europe to the UK the remains of the war heroes Edith Cavell, Charles Fryatt and the Unknown Warrior.

Inside, visitors can read about them and watch newsreels with footage from The British Pathé Film Archive showing scenes from 1919 and 1920 of the three burial processions, as well as scenes of the trenches.

Cavell Van’s war heroes

The Cavell Van was built by the South Eastern and Chatham Railway in 1919 and is named after British nurse and patriot Edith Cavell. It also famously brought home two other war heroes.

Edith Cavell: Celebrated for saving the lives of soldiers from both sides during the Great War but was executed by a German firing squad after helping some 200 Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium. Her execution received worldwide condemnation and extensive press coverage.

Charles Fryatt: A British mariner who was executed by the Germans for attempting to ram a U-boat in 1915. The Merchant Navy captain’s ship was captured by Germans in 1916, was court-martialed and sentenced to death, even though he was a civilian.

The Unknown Warrior: The tomb in Westminster Abbey holds an unidentified British soldier killed on a European battlefield. His body is dedicated to the memories of all soldiers killed in the war.

Kent and East Sussex Railway’s First World War event is on Saturday, June 30 and Sunday, July 1. Admission £15, seniors £14, children £10, families £42. Call 01580 765155.