Battle+of+the+Somme

-THE BATTLE OF THE SOMME-





Who Were Involved

**Britain** The British had 51 divisions in the Battle of the Somme. They were under the command of Douglas Haig. There were 918 000 men, 255 000 horses, and 3 867 guns. The British troops were a combination of soldiers sent from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, South Africa and of course, Britain.

**France** The French were led by Ferdinand Foch who had 48 divisions under his control. They had 720 000 men, 240 000 horses, and 1 728 guns.

**Germany** The Germans had two officers commanding 50 divisions, Fritz von Below and Max von Gallwitz. They mobilized 875 000 men, 200 000 horses, 3 600 guns, and 1 224 machine guns.

Why?

In May 25 of 1916, British decided to strengthen their manpower by the adoption of the obligatory military service. Haig also thought they would be able to weaken the German forces seriously because of their numerical inferiority on the Western front. New weapons introduced recently such as the railroad, heavy artillery, the machine-gun, the new portable Stock mortar, the infantry canon of 37mm and the grenade-launcher VB gave even more certitude of victory to Haig.

What Happened??

In the summer of 1916, Joseph Joffre and Douglas Haig launched the offensive that was planned in the late 1915 and was intended as a French-British attack. This time though, British troops are in the greatest number because of the Battle of Verdun, which mobilized most of the French troops. The Allies did not use the surprise effect, as from June 24 to June 30. They thoroughly bombarded the German positions, making it the longest bombardment. However, the shelling was not a success, because even after, all barbed wire was still standing. The 1st July of 1916 is the first day of the offensive. In the south, are the French, under the direction of the General Foch; in the north, the British under the direction of Haig; and opposing the Allies, the Germans, who have been digging and fortifying entrenchments since two years, and are still there even after heavy bombardment. British-French objectives: Bapaume, Péronne and Nesle.

In the first 6 minutes of the battle more than 30 000 men fell; and in the first day 60 000 British out of 100 000 were either dead or wounded. In fact, this day is the deadliest of all the battles fought during World War One and in British history. Compared to the 60 000 Allie losses in the first day, only 6000 Germans men were killed.

No significant gain in ground was obtained that day, and most of the Allies who made it to the German entrenchment were drawn back by the effectiveness of the German machine-gun response.

On the 15th of September, Haig used for the first time tanks in the battle of Flers-Clourette, near Thiepval. Although they achieved a large measure of shocked surprise when sprung toward the enemy, the debut of the tank was short lived and ultimately failed to make a difference. Firstly because of their low number, which totaled to 50; and secondly because of mechanical failure which reduced them to 24.

The battle dragged on until November 13, 1916. There were no significant gains other than the introduction of the tank and victory seemed even farther away.

<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">Reasons the Somme Was a Disaster

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif;">The Battle of the Somme, which was one of the battles that came out with one of the highest casualty rates, can be attributed to many factors. However, three main reasons stand out. Firstly, the war was one of attrition, so the generals had their minds set on wearing down the enemy rather than territorial gain. This method costed both sides many men and it made the battles a long and painful fight.

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif;">Another underlying problem was the tactics of Commander in Chief, Haig. He was a renowned calvary captain and had years of commanding calvary troops. This led to one main problem: his tactics involved frontal infantry. He carried over his calvary tactics into the Battle of the Somme which then resulted in heavy losses. The men that he was commanding in the Somme had been fighting for months by then and his style of working men up fast and sending them out to charge German lines. The men of the Somme were slower, and got tired quicker. Haig was determined however and kept sending out lines of men with long rifles, which to untrained and tired men, were like carrying long, heavy sticks.

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif;">The soldiers had to carry a heavy burden...literally. Each soldier was carrying a 30kg backpack full of supplies, and equipped with unefficiant weapons. They were easily shot down by the German machine guns as they trudged across no mans land.

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif;">The weather of the season was also taking its toll on the battle. Heavy rain and constant winds made the battlefield into a muddy hell, where trenches were filled with water and many men drowned trying to get across no mans land. The tank made its first appearance in the battle of the Somme, but due to these horrible conditions, their use and overall affectiveness was very limited. The muddy trenches caused many of the tanks to become immobile. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 140%;"> media type="youtube" key="uc8bjBZR-B0?fs=1" height="385" width="480" <span style="color: #800000; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">Fun Fun Fun Facts!

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">﻿Germans were able to keep their ground even when they were bombarded because of the bunkers that they built. The concrete bunkers were made 10 meters under ground and the shells just bounced off.

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">One particular explosion in German territory left a crater that was 400 meters in diameter. Now, it is a tourist attraction and was named Lochnager, which was the name of the trench it landed on.

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Adolf Hitler was a message runner for the Germans in WW1 and was seriously injured in the battle when a British artillery piece exploded in one of the trenches.

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Completed in 1932, the largest British war memorial stands in Theipval. Standing almost 50 ft high, it commemorates 73 000 British and South African soldiers who died in combat.

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">On the crosses of unknown soldiers, the words "Known Unto God" are put on the headstones.

<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">Pop Quiz Time!


 * 1) <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">﻿What were the three territoral objectives that the British meant to accomplish from the Battle of the Somme?
 * 2) <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Why did General Douglas Haig have problems in commanding the troops?
 * 3) <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">What was the date that the Battle of the Somme began? When did did it end?
 * 4) <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">What are the names of the two Generals in charge of the German troops?
 * 5) <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Name one good outcome that came out of the Battle of the Somme.

<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Sources <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif;">[|FirstWorldWar] <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif;">[]
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<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif;">[|Fun Trivia] <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif;">[]

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif;">Brown, Malcolm. //The Imperial War Museum Book of the Somme//. London: Sidgwick and Johnson, 1996. Print.
 * __<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Books __**
 * <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif;">The Imperial War Museum Book of the Somme **