The Somme
The Somme Offensive was an attempt by the Allies to force a breakthrough along a 12 mile stretch of the German lines north and south of the River Somme in France. The Somme Offensive would also relieve pressure on Verdun. The Battle of the Somme is best remembered for its first day. The date was 1st July 1916 and Britain suffered more than 57,000 casualties. The men involved were Kitchener’s Army. Many of the professional soldiers of the British Expeditionary Force (whom the Kaiser had called the “Old Contemptibles”) had been casualties in earlier battles. This was a new army of young volunteers. Many of them still lie buried under the battlefields of the Somme.
1st July 1916
In the 7 days leading up to the first infantry assault on 1st July 1916, there had been a seven day artillery bombardment of German lines. 1.7 million shells had been fired and seventeen mines had also been planted in tunnels underneath the German trenches. The Generals believed the bombardment would destroy the German front lines to the extent all the infantry would have to do is walk across no-mans land to occupy the trenches. Sadly, they were very mistaken.
The mines were due to be detonated at 7:28am, 2 minutes before the infantry went over the top. However, the Hawthorn Ridge mine was fired at 7:20am and gave the Germans valuable time to get back into position. Despite all the artillery shells, they had done precious little damage and the infantry were badly exposed as they advanced. Many units were told to simply walk across no-mans land in waves. At La Boiselle, the Tyneside Irish Brigade had to advance nearly one mile in view of the German gunners. They were effectively wiped out. At Beaumont Hamel, the Newfoundland Regiment advanced from reserve trenches and suffered 91% casualties, many before they even reached their own front lines.
However, there were some success stories. The 36th Ulster Division had not formed waves and had dashed across to the enemy. They were one of the few battalions to achieve their objectives. The cost to the 36th was heavy with 5,500 officers and men being killed, wounded or missing.
Poor communications meant that it was a couple of days before the Allied commanders realized the scale of the disaster. After 10 days of fighting, the British had made no significant advance. In the French sectors, advances of up to 6 miles had been made. As early as 2nd July, German reinforcements had been on their way to the front lines. In an attempt to stop the flow of reinforcements to the Somme from other areas of the front line, the British planned a series of raids with the aim of keeping German divisions where they were. The largest of these was the Battle of Fromelles on 19-20th July. 7,000 British and Australian casualties were suffered but no ground was captured and there was no halt in the reinforcements heading towards the Somme.
Battles continued thoughout July and August. In September, the Germans started to construct the Hindenburg Line. On 15th September at the Battle of Flers-Courcelette, the British tank made its debut. Unfortunately, they were slow and susceptible to artillery fire. In addition, they were mechanically unreliable with just 21 of the 49 available tanks making it into action.
In October and November, attacks continued when the weather allowed and on 13th November, the British took Beaumont Hamel. This was pretty much the last action of the Somme and at most, 8 miles of land had been taken. The cost in men was horrendous with more than 1.5 million casualties on all sides.
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