Battle of the Somme

The Battle of the Somme (French: Bataille de la Somme, German: Schlacht an der Somme), also known as the Somme Offensive, took place during the First World War between 1 July and 18 November 1916 on either side of the river Somme in France. The battle saw the British Expeditionary Force and the French Army mount a joint offensive against the German Army, which had occupied a fairly large part of the north of France since its invasion of the country in August 1914. The Battle of the Somme was one of the largest battles of the war; by the time fighting paused in late autumn 1916, the forces involved had suffered more than 1 million casualties, making it one of the bloodiest military operations ever recorded.

The plan for the Somme offensive evolved out of Allied strategic discussions at Chantilly, Oise in December 1915. Chaired by General Joseph Joffre, the commander-in-chief of the French Army at the time, Allied representatives agreed on a concerted offensive against the Central Powers in 1916 by the French, British, Italian and Russian armies. The Somme offensive was to be the Anglo-French contribution to this general offensive and was intended to create a rupture in the German line which could then be exploited with a decisive blow. With the German attack on Verdun on the River Meuse in February 1916, the Allies were forced to adapt their plans. The British Army took the lead on the Somme, though the French contribution remained significant.

The opening day of the battle saw the British Army suffer the worst day in its history, sustaining nearly 60,000 casualties. Because of the composition of the British Army, at this point a volunteer force with many battalions comprising men from particular localities, these losses (and those of the campaign as a whole) had a profound social impact. The battle is also remembered for the first use of the tank. At the end of the battle in mid-November, British and French forces had penetrated 6 miles (9.7 km) into German occupied territory, with the British Army still three miles (5 km) from Bapaume, a major objective. The German Army maintained much its front line over the winter of 1916–1917, before withdrawing from the Somme battlefield in February 1917 to the fortified Hindenburg Line.

The conduct of the battle has been a source of controversy: senior officers such as General Sir Douglas Haig, the commander of the British Expeditionary Force and Henry Rawlinson, the commander of Fourth Army, have been criticised for the human cost while failing to achieve their territorial objectives. Historians such as W. Philpott, G. Sheffield and J. Sheldon have concluded that the Somme saw the beginning of modern all-arms warfare, when the BEF learned many tactical and operational lessons and that the battle inflicted serious damage on the German army, which was a preliminary to its eventual defeat in 1918.
Date: 1 July – 18 November 1916 (4 months, 2 weeks and 3 days)
Location: Somme River, north-central Somme and southeastern Pas-de-Calais Départements, France
Result: Indecisive;

German Army withdraws 40 miles (64 km) to the Hindenburg Line in February – March 1917

Tactical and strategic effects favourable to Allies
Belligerents:

Allies: United Kingdom, France, Canada, Newfoundland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India

German Empire: German Empire
Commanders and leaders:

Allies: Douglas Haig Ferdinand Foch

German Empire: Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria, Max von Gallwitz, Fritz von Below
Strength

Allies: 13 British and 11 French divisions totaling 280,000 men (initial); 51 British and 48 French divisions totalling 1,200,000 men (final)

German Empire: 10½ divisions totaling 260,000 men (initial); 50 divisions totaling 1,375,000 men (final)
Casualties and losses

Allies: 623,907 casualties, 782 aircraft lost

German Empire: 465,000 men, other credible estimates of c. 400,000 – c. 500,000
above rom Wikipedia

The Somme Secret Tunnel Wars BBC documentary

Beneath the Somme battlefield lies one of the great secrets of the First World War, a recently-discovered network of deep tunnels thought to extend over several kilometres. This lost underground battlefield, centred on the small French village of La Boisselle in Picardy, was constructed largely by British troops between 1914 and 1916. Over 120 men died here in ongoing attempts to undermine the nearby German lines and these galleries still serve as a tomb for many of those men. This documentary follows historian Peter Barton and a team of archaeologists as they become the first people in nearly a hundred years to enter this hidden, and still dangerous, labyrinth.

Military mines were the original weapons of shock and awe – with nowhere to hide from a mine explosion, these huge explosive charges could destroy a heavily-fortified trench in an instant. In order to get under the German lines to plant their mines, British tunnellers had to play a terrifying game of subterranean cat and mouse – constantly listening out for enemy digging and trying to intercept the German tunnels without being detected. To lose this game probably meant death.

As well uncovering the grim reality of this strange underground war, Peter discovers the story of the men who served here, including the tunnelling companies’ special military units made up of ordinary civillian sewer workers and miners. He reveals their top secret mission that launched the Battle of the Somme’s first day and discovers why British high command failed to capitalise on a crucial tactical advantage they had been given by the tunnellers.

 

Battle of the Somme