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Hundreds Of WW1 ‘Ghost Soldiers’ Appear At Train Stations In Poignant Somme Tribute

Soldiers walk through Waterloo station in London (Twitter/Darren Jefferies)

Hundreds of silent ‘ghost soldiers’ dressed in World War One uniforms appeared at train stations across the country on Friday morning as part of a moving Somme anniversary gathering.

Crowds of WW1 soldiers appeared before stunned commuters in London and Manchester at 7.28am - the exact time troops went ‘over the top’ at the Battle of the Somme on July 1, 1916.

The poignant tribute also saw volunteers hand out business cards to commuters, each bearing the name of a soldier who died at the Somme.

Soldiers in WW1 attire also occasionally broke into song, singing ‘We’re here because we’re here’ to the tune of Auld Lang Syne.

Actors put on a powerful display at Kings Cross. (Twitter/Richard Allinson)

Poignant: WW1 soldiers at London Waterloo station. (Twitter/Network Rail)

Surprise: Commuters were stunned by the surprise event.

The powerful nationwide event was shared on social media under the hashtag #WeAreHere, with hundreds sharing their emotive pictures of the soldiers in cities all over the UK.

Commuters spotted the soldiers at Waterloo and Kings Cross stations in London, as well as Manchester Piccadilly, Plymouth, Bristol, Birmingham and Belfast.

The Battle of the Somme was one of the deadliest in British military history.

‘We are here’: Soldiers also burst into song during the tributes. (Twitter)

WW1 ‘ghost soldiers’ standing at London’s Liverpool St station. (Twitter)

Tribute: Soldiers also appeared at Sheffield station. (Twitter/Sandy MacDonald)

The actors also appeared in Plymouth on Friday. (Twitter/Alex Wood)

The British Army suffered almost 60,000 casualties on the first day alone and more than a million men would be killed or wounded on both sides over the course of the 141-day offensive.

Elsewhere on a sombre day of tributes, Prime Minister David Cameron, French president Francois Hollande, the Dukes and Duchesses of Cornwall and Cambridge, and Prince Harry, led 10,000 guests gathered at the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme that towers over the battlefield in France.

Ceremonies across the United Kingdom had earlier on Friday honoured the hundreds of thousands of victims of the brutal offensive which started in northern France on July 1 1916.