The sell-out success of the Battle of the Somme film event scheduled to take place in Dunfermline on Tuesday has led to two further screenings being arranged.

Fife Cultural Trust arranged to show the UNESCO-listed movie at the Carnegie Hall but the demand was so high that it will now be shown in Cupar and Lochgelly too.

The film charts one of the bloodiest battles of the First World War and will be screened in Lochgelly Centre on Wednesday November 16, a century after its release.

Watched by around 20 million people, almost half the population at the time, when released to the British public in 1916 the film was the first opportunity for many to witness the horrors of trench warfare.

The Battle of the Somme saw the British Army suffer more casualties on 1 July 1916 than in the entire Crimean, Boer and Korean Wars combined.

For more than 60 per cent of the army, this was their first experience of battle.

A seven day initial artillery bombardment was planned from June 24 until July 1 in attempt to destroy German trench defences and artillery.

In the week leading up to the battle, over 1.5 million shells were fired. Although this bombardment was the biggest yet, many of the British shells were duds which did not explode.

At 7.30am on Saturday July 1 1916 British troops advanced across no man’s land towards the German lines.

Within a few hours 19,240 British troops had been killed, out of a total of 57,470 casualties.

Despite the costly first day, the Somme offensive continued for another four and a half months until November 18 1916.

Over the 141 days of battle the British took a strip of territory 10km deep and 32km long.

More than one million men from all sides were killed wounded or captured.

The early stages of the fighting was filmed for a documentary, The Battle of the Somme.

The film, which is listed on UNESCO’s ‘Memory of the World’ register, was the first feature-length documentary to record war in action.

It is one of the most popular and successful films in British cinema history.

Tickets are free but places are limited and can be reserved by calling 01592 583303 for the Lochgelly event.