Events start this Sunday at 3pm with a Service of Commemoration at St Michael’s Church in the town centre.

On Monday at 8pm there will be a Drumhead service at Macclesfield Cemetery to mark anniversary of the declaration of war.

As was the tradition on the frontline, drums were used to create a makeshift altar for church services.

Taking part in the ceremony at the Cross of Sacrifice will be the Royal British Legion (RBL), Sea Cadets, Army Cadets and Air Cadets.

Coun Lesley Smetham, deputy chairman of Orbitas Bereavement Services, which runs the cemetery for Cheshire East Council, said: “People of all ages will be reflecting on the events of the First World War, remembering the fallen and their sacrifice.

“I believe this service is a fitting tribute to their memory.”

On Monday, the Royal British Legion is encouraging residents to turn off their lights between 10pm and 11pm leaving only a single light or candle as a symbolic act of reflection.

There will be candlelight vigils at war memorials all over the town and villages.

An event at Macclesfield’s Cenotaph will start at 11pm and include a two-minute silence.

Organiser Andrew Dawson said: “The event is for those people of Macclesfield who wish to come together and mark this event in the country’s history and its impact on the people of the town.”

The vigil at Bollington’s Garden of Remembrance from 10pm to midnight includes songs from the war period, a two-minute silence started by a vintage trench whistle, readings and prayers.

On Tuesday at 2pm a monument to the 306 soldiers shot for cowardice and posthumously pardoned will be unveiled at the Cenotaph at Park Green by the Lord-Lieutenant of Cheshire.

The monument will be a simple wooden post sited at a distance from the Cenotaph that represents the distance of the firing squad.

Allan Williams from Macclesfield RBL said: “This is a unique and fitting memorial.”

More than 1,000 servicemen from Macclesfield lost their lives during the First World War.

Among them was Albert Schofield, pictured above, from Bollington.

Born in 1893 to parents Walter and Eliza he trained as a carpenter. He set sail for Quebec in May 1913 but by October the next year he was enlisting to do his bit for his country. He was 21 when he joined up with the 5th company of the 1st grenadier guards before transferring to the 23rd battalion of the Canadian infantry before setting sail for France in February 1915. By March he had been promoted to corporal and moved to the 3rd Battalion Canadian Infantry (Central Ontario Regt). He was shot dead by a sniper on October 7, 2015 and buried at Ploegsteert wood military cemetery near Ypres.

Albert’s ultimate sacrifice will be remembered acutely by his family including his great nephew Andy Brookes-Wilde from Macclesfield.

Andy, 50, said: “Albert is our family’s First World War hero. He left Bollington to start a new life in Canada but was sent back to France to fight and was killed. We will be thinking of him during the commemorations.”