Inscribed with the names of more than 72,000 missing British and South Africans with no known grave, the Thiepval Memorial is close to the Thiepval Visitor Centre, which has a database for those tracking down ancestors and a new extension for 2016. Visits to Thiepval and other sites open to the public - including the Historial de Péronne (subject to ongoing renovation for the centenary) and countless cemeteries and memorials - gives us the chance to pay homage to the British and French fighting side-by-side, and to reflect on the war's lasting impact. For as Somme Tourisme director François Bergez reminds us, “Remembrance is every day.”

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