THE SOMME JULY 1ST 1916

It all began at a conference in near the end of 1915 – Marshal Jofre came to an agreement with the British Comander in Chief, General Sir Douglas Haig, to mount a large joint offensive from near Compiégne to the Somme.

 

Thiepval

The Germans, well aware of the build up on the western front were well aware that they needed a Victory, one that would boost the moral of the German people, and break the moral f the enemy – so the concentrated there efforts in Verdun. The loss of such a prestigious town would break the French.

But French patriotism rose to fever pitch, the memories of old, the Prussian occupation of Paris only 46 year previous remained in there memories.

Verdun was to become a battle of attrition, more French divisions were transferred to the Verdun region, thereby reducing the numbers on the Somme. The battle that ensued was terrible with high losses on both sides, the French casualties would rise to 400,000

The French high command insisted that the offensive on the Some be brought forward, Haig had no choice, although his armies were not ready.

British bombardment began in the last week of June, with 13 British divisions in place compared to the 5 French division assembled in the trenches. This bombardment was all part of the grand plan, they were sure that the German opposition would be virtually non existent, how wrong they were.

The attack was scheduled for the 1st July 1916, with half a million men ready, from all walks of life – shop keepers as Napoléon had said – bank clerks, railway men, Volunters from Britain, Ireland, Newfoundland, South Africa, Australia and Canada but to mention a few.

What followed has gone down in British military history as a dark day. 60,000 killed, missing or injured on the 1st day alone, and the battle raged until

But what went wrong?

Haig and Rawlinson – the commander of the fourth army were optimistic about the effectivness of there plan, and so convinced were the commanders, that the would take foot balls to kick over no-mans-land.

1st July 1916 ~ At 0728 the first mines were blown under the German lines, seventeen in all sent clouds of earth several hundreds of feet in the air, killing all those close by.

0730 was zero hour, the allied troops climbed out of their trenches to make the slow march across no-mans land, 60,000 in all, walking through and around the many craters left by days of shelling.

The Germans, whilst shocked at the devastation by the mines, re grouped and climbed out of their dug outs. With time on there side they set up the machine guns and waited for the duck shoot -easy pickings of men walking slowly towards them.

As the summer day grew hotter, the casualties also grew, but the British command sent in a further 40,000 men. Battalions of men littered the way between the Allied and German trenches, and on a front of 9 miles the British made no realistic gains by nightfall.

By contrast the French took all of their objectives…..

The Battle of the Somme was not just one day, but continued until mid November.

There are many sites on the Somme to commemorate the many forces who took part in this battle such as Lochnagar Crater, Mametz Wood – a memorial to the Wesh, Delville Wood – a memorial to the South Africans, Newfoundland Memorial to the Newfoundlanders, Ulster Tower for the brave men of Ulster, PozieresMill for the Australians, and the Thipval Anglo-French memorial to all those who have no known grave – 73,000 names in all.

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What Happened