Every family and community in Somerset was affected by the events of 1914-18.
Thousands of men left the county to fight on battlefields across the world. More than 8,000 of them would never return home.
The 1st battalion The Somerset Light infantry were amongst the first troops to set sail for war. They were part of the British Expeditionary Force and played an important role in the opening battles of the conflict. During the next four years, the Somerset Light Infantry, North Somerset Yeomanry and West Somerset Yeomanry took part in major battles of the First World War. Somerset soldiers fought on battlefields across the world from the trenches of Flanders to the Egyptian desert.
Read more about where the Somerset Battalions were on Armistice Day
Read first-hand accounts of Armistice Day from soldiers
War Memorials
On November 11, 1918, peace between the Allied Powers and Germany was agreed. The war was over.
At 11 o’clock on November 11, workers at the Electric Light Works in St James Street, Taunton, sounded the siren 11 times. At Allen’s Foundry the anvils were fired in celebration.
People rejoiced. Flags were put up and the church bells rung. But Armistice was darkened by the loss.
Memorials to the fallen were created across the county.
