A bike ride commemorating an heroic charge at the Battle of the Somme in 1916 will pass through Epsom later this month, featuring period bicycles and uniforms and a replica of a famous football.

The ride will go between regimental chapels at Guildford and Kingston, stopping off at Epsom Clock Tower at 4pm on Friday April 29, where it will be met by Epsom and Ewell mayor, Chris Frost.

Captain Wilfred ‘Billy’ Nevill, tasked with leading his men over the top on the first day of the famous battle on July 1 1916, decided to use footballs to take his men’s minds off their fate.

His company of soldiers from the East Surrey Regiment punted the balls ahead of them – accounts differ as to whether two or four balls were involved – as they charged across No Man’s Land.

One of the footballs, incredibly, survived.

A replica of the ball is to be the centrepiece of the bike ride, organised by historical re-enactors the 10th Essex Regiment who will wear World War One uniforms and ride vintage bicycles.

David Brooks of the Bourne Hall Museum in Ewell, where the ball will spend the night after it is greeted by the mayor, explained Captain Neville’s motivation.

He said: “It was his way of taking his men’s mind off what they were to face, and it must have worked because the men followed and took the enemy position.”

Captain Nevill – two weeks to the day before his 22nd birthday – was killed in the attack, but died a hero.

The Battle of the Somme would go on to become one of the bloodiest battles in human history, with more than one million people wounded or killed.

After the ride, the ball will be taken to the battlefield and be symbolically kicked between the sites of the English and German trenches.

  • The football will arrive in Epsom on Friday, April 29 at 4pm, coming via Ashley Road to the Clock Tower, where it will be met by the mayor. It will then go on to Ewell, arriving at Bourne Hall at 5pm.
  • The next morning at 9am it will leave Bourne Hall via the Dog Gate, to be taken to Kingston along the Kingston Road.
  • Read more about commemorating World War One at www.surreycomet.co.uk/ww1/