The Battle of The Somme

The Battle of The Somme

The British forces attacked at the Somme in the spring/summer of 1916,

confident of their ability and determined to emerge victorious. They

were brought into the battle by the French, who insisted on their help

due to the extreme pressure they were under at the time in Verdun. In

preparation for the great attack, the British pounded the enemy

trenches with heavy artillery for seven days, non-stop. The roar of

gunfire could be heard as far away as London, and when the barrage

finally did end the British confidently made their way forward,

assured that not so much as a rat had escaped the bombing. However, on

the 1st of July 1916, when the British did move ahead towards the

German trenches they found the enemy alive and fighting - over 58,000

allie troops were lost, one third were fatalities. How could the

attack have turned so disastrous? What had went so terribly wrong that

so many lost their lives?

The plan of attack for the Somme came from the French Commander in

Chief, Joseph Joffre, a man who had proved valuable at the start of

the war, who never admitted defeat. Douglas Haig, the new British

Commander in Chief agreed to the plan, although he would have

preferred to strike at the open ground of Flanders. Though the plan

originally stated that the French would make up most of the assaulting

force, their attention and man-power was diverted by the goings-on in

Verdun, resulting in more British involvement. The attack was planned

for the 1st of August but the French requested that it be brought

forward a month in hopes of diverting the enemy's efforts. Haig took

over most of the planning and worked ove...

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...Finally, on the 13 of November 1916, Haig shut down the

offensive. For an advance of eight miles the British had suffered

420,000 casualties and the French 200,000. But German casualties had

been equally heavy and, with a smaller army, Germany was less able to

sustain such losses. Soldiers on both sides grew sick of the fighting,

recognising it as 'sheer slaughter' rather than a battle of virtue.

Overall, the Battle of the Somme had not been a complete disaster for

France and Britain. It had resulted in the gain of, at the most, 15 km

of land, and it had helped to bring attention away from other German

attack points such as Verdun. Also, although the casualties were great

they were fairly even on both sides. The battle itself had helped to

strengthen the British army, although that strength came at very high

a price.