A FORMER Royal Marine has completed an "act of remembrance" by tackling a 650-mile yomp to mark the centenary the Battle of the Somme.

Mark Warrener, 29, who now works in engineering, walked from St George's Hall in Liverpool to Sheffield over five days in memory of the soldiers who lost their lives in the WWI battle.

One of the bloodiest battles in human history, by the end of the first day - July 1, 1916 - the British had suffered 57,470 casualties of which 19,240 were dead. Despite this, the battle continued until November 18 and claimed over 1,000,000 casualties on each side.

Former Rainhill High pupil Mark, from Eccleston Park, who walked a total of 122 miles, said it was "an act of remembrance".

He said: "It was very difficult. It was hard getting up the next morning and having to start again. It took a few miles to loosen up again.

"It was around 30 miles a day and I had some company for sections of the walks, but was alone a lot of the time.

"I stopped at five cenotaphs during the journey."

Mark was one of three ex marines carrying out the 'Yomp to the Somme'; the other two - Christiaan Creaby, from Leeds, and Michael Anderson, from Birmingham - and were walking from the North East all the way to the Somme in France, where they are scheduled to arrive tomorrow (Friday, June 1).

The three are raising money for the Royal British Legion along the way.

Mark's trip took him from Liverpool to Chorley on day one, from Chorley to Bacup on day two and from Bacup to Glossop on day three, the next two days were spent walking from Glossop to Sheffield.

He said: "A lot of men from the towns and villages I passed went to fight at the time, 100 years ago. Some lost their lives and this was an act of remembrance for them and to make younger people aware of their actions.

"Our ultimate goal is to collect donations for the British Legion and raise 19,240 remembrance crosses, one for each British soldier killed on the first day of the Somme."

Mark also did the Lichfield to Birmingham leg with Christiaan and Michael in memory of a marine colleague that they lost.

To donate visit thesommeyomp.com.