Today sees the 100th anniversary of the first day of the Battle of the Somme.

The start of the offensive in northern France has become known as the blackest day in Britain’s military history.

Within minutes of leaving the trenches, the dead and wounded piled up as men were mown down by German machine gun and rifle fire.

By the end of July 1, 1916, the casualty list totalled almost 60,000 – 19,240 dead and some 40,000 wounded.

About 1,000 men from Kent perished in the battle.

The Somme was a joint offensive by the British in the north and the French in the south.

The plan was devised the year before at an Allied conference at Chantilly.

The intention was to break the German lines with one decisive blow. But before the offensive was launched, the Germans began their own against the French at Verdun in February, leaving the British to shoulder the major part of the attack.

At this time, the British Army was largely a volunteer force with many battalions consisting of men from the same area.

It meant that back home the huge losses had a devastating impact on many communities giving the battle a lasting cultural legacy.

The battle also saw the first-ever use of the tank. There has been huge controversy ever since with officers such as General Sir Douglas Haig criticised for the severe losses.

Others say the Allies learnt the lessons that ultimately helped defeat the enemy.

At the end of the battle, British and French forces had penetrated a six miles into German-occupied territory, but the British Army was still three miles short of Bapaume and did not capture any other town.

Today, events are being held across the county to mark the centenary.

Images of soldiers will be projected onto the White Cliffs of Dove, intended to illustrate both the First World War battle and the plight of modern servicemen and women suffering from conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder.

In Swale, mayor Cllr Lesley Ingham was due to lead blowing of whistles today at 7.30am to recreate the moment 100 years ago when men went “over the top”.

The anniversary was also due to be marked at the Sittingbourne War Memorial in Central Avenue with a multi-denominational ‘drumhead’ service (an altar made from drums) led by British Legion chaplain Pat Tatchell.

Paul Auston, Deputy Lord Lieutenant for Swale representing the Lord Lieutenant of Kent, will attend with mayoral cadet Cpl Lauren Kingsnorth of 2316 (Sheppey) Squadron Air Training Corps.

As the mayor blows a whistle, Sittingbourne and Kemsley Light railway’s oldest working locomotive Leader, built in 1905, will sound her loud whistle to carry across the town.

Another event follows at 9.15pm with Hope, Courage and Catastrophe, a memorial service by artist and photographer Karen Crosby as the memorial is lit up with graphic images of those who died. The mayor will lay a special Somme 100 wreath.

In a very different act of commemoration, three ex-Marines are passing through Aylesford as part of their 650-mile trek to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme.

The men set off from Liverpool and Grimsby on Thursday, June 9 and have visited various battalion towns on their journey south. They will visit the Aylesford Poppy Appeal Office today.

Christiaan Creaby, Michael Anderson, and Mark Warrenerall served in Afghanistan. They are due to arrive at the site of the Somme today.

The trio have been labelled as the Somme Yompers, named after soldiers who would walk long distances with heavy kit on their backs during the Falklands Conflict. Each of their packs weighs 13.6kg.

They will arrive at the Poppy Appeal Office off Hall Road at 4pm and will collect crosses to take to the battlefields as a sign of remembrance and respect.

Each small wooden cross is decorated with a poppy, the symbol of the Royal British Legion, and is dedicated to a First World War veteran.

Also travelling to France are more than 30 ex-servicemen and their wives from the Medway Branch of the Royal Engineers Association.

The veteran Sappers travel to France today for a four-day battlefield tour which includes a visit to Flanders Fields, Ypres, Sanctuary Wood, Tyne Cot Cemetery, Messines Ridge and the Irish Peace Tower, to mark the centenary of the conflict.

Many Kent villages have a very personal connection with those killed in the battle.

The lives of seven soldiers from Great Chart and thousands of other servicemen will be remembered today as the village commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme in the First World War.

Two ceremonies will take place at the village’s St Mary’s Church today with special guests including the Mayor of Ashford, Cllr George Koowaree, and Folkestone MP Damian Collins.

There will be seven flags, one for each of the men from the village who never returned home, with a plaque beneath them telling the story of what happened to each individual during the lengthy battle.

One of the men who lost their lives on that tragic day was a 26-year-old soldier from Great Chart, Frederick Tutt – whose only brother, Thomas Tutt, died just 11 weeks after him aged 22.

Both have no known graves, but are listed next to each other on the Thiepval Memorial to The Missing of the Somme, where missing servicemen are commemorated.

Ian Wolverson, 73, who leads the Great Chart Remembers group, said some of the letters written home by soldiers from the village will be read out during the service.

"Great Chart is renowned for its collection of First World War letters sent back to loved ones by men in the services during that terrible conflict.

Mr Wolverson said: “The letters are really quite poignant in what they say. One of them is written by the last of the two brothers who fought in the Somme, where he describes the loss of his older brother.

“These monuments we have are absolutely unique, and no other village has this type of correspondence.

"Great Chart Remembers is about commemorating the individuals who were lost in the First World War, and we believe these letters give a real insight into these people’s lives.”

The commemoration will also host an exhibition of the letters written to Great Chart woman Elizabeth Quinton Strouts, who sent out almost 1,000 letters and 6,000 parcels to enlisted men from her village.

The correspondence sent back to her reveals much of the daily life they were forced to endure in the trenches.

They will remain in St Mary’s church for 141 days until November 18 to mark the length of the battle.

The first presentation will take place at 10am, where five schools will be involved in a church service and laying wreaths at the War Memorial.

A two-minute silence will begin at the memorial at 11am, followed by a second service in the evening at 7.30pm.