The Battle of the Somme
Like the Battle of Verdun that raged at the same time, the Battle of the Somme was one of the deadliest and most costly of all time. In early 1916, French and British forces began planning how to break through the German lines along the Somme River in northern France.
The Allies began with a 5-day artillery bombardment designed to destroy German fortifications. Then, on July 1, 1916, French and British forces went “over-the-top” of their trenches and into no-man’s land between the two sides. The Allied bombardment, however, failed to destroy most of the German barbed wire and machine gun fire from the German trenches mowed down the inexperienced British soldiers. Almost 20,000 British soldiers were killed on that first day.
Subsequent French and British offensives drove the German army back but failed to break their lines. As the weeks dragged on, the British experimented with new techniques, including the first use of tanks on the battlefield.
The offensive was finally called off on November 18 with coming winter weather. By the end of the battle, British and French forces had pushed just 6 miles into German-occupied territory. They failed to achieve their objective or break the German line.
More than three million men fought in the battle of whom one million were wounded or killed, making it one of the deadliest battles in human history. For many in Great Britain, the Somme remains the most painful and infamous episode of World War I due to the senseless slaughter that occurred over such little territory.
