Dead on the Wire

Over the Top

No Mans Land-Flanders

View from Fire Step

Machine Gun Post

De-Lousing

Battle of Verdun 1916German Chief of Staff – Von Falkenhayn

“the forces of France will bleed to death”

21 February 1916

French shelled for 9 hours – 80,000 shells

French commander General Petain

What would break Scotland?

• If we were invaded, what city would be try to defend at all costs?

VERDUN, 1916http://www.pbs.org/greatwar/maps/maps_verdun.html

German & French dead

German dead, Verdun

Before and After

Result of Verdun

French recaptured the Fort Douaumont377,000 French dead, missing or wounded337,000 Germans

Over 750,000 casualties total

Battle of Somme

British & French wanted to create a gap inGerman lines

French asked to attack to be brought forwardeddue to Verdun – 1st July 1916

• How would you attack the German trenches? What tactics would you use?–List as many as you can–Think what it would be like to be either

a general or a soldier in the trenches and what you would want to do if you were attacking

–5 Minutes

General Haig’s Plan

1. Week long artillery bombardment2. Use of planes to target German forces3. Shelling to destroy barbed wire4. Having destroyed machine guns & trenches –

allied troops would secure the German front

7.30am 1st July 1916 allied soldiers ordered to fix bayonets to riffles & go

“over the top”

“Good-morning; good-morning!” the General saidWhen we met him last week on our way to the line.Now the soldiers he smiled at are most of ‘em dead,And we’re cursing his staff for incompetent swine.“He’s a cheery old card,” grunted Harry to JackAs they slogged up to Arras with rifle and pack.

But he did for them both by his plan of attack.

Siegfried Sassoon

German troops near Bapaume , Battle of Somme

British troops on way to front July 1916, Somme The General, Sassoon

July 1st 1916-

7:28 bombs are detonated under the German trenches- giving them a 2 minute warning7:30 men go over the top

They are carrying a gas mask, groundsheet, field dressings, trench spade, 150 rounds of ammo and extras like – sandbags or a roll of barbed wire

Totalling 80 lbs of equipment

Thinking German lines had been destroyed and that new recruits would be disorganised they ordered that men should walk in straight lines across no mans land

They were slaughtered!

“They went down in their hundreds. You didn’t have to aim, we just fired into them” wrote a German machine gunner

1 British battalion could not advance because they could not climb over the bodies of the dead and wounded that were in their way

Officers were ordered to carry only a pistol and to lead their men- were easily picked out and shot

A British commander decided to detonate a mine which had failed, the result--- he buried his own men under rock and soil

The End of the Somme

First Day• 19,240 British dead• 35,494 British wounded• 2,152 unaccounted foritish missing

General Haig halted the battle in November• Allies had gained 125 sq mile• 400,000 British casualties• 200,000 French casualties• 450,000 German casualties

Haig: lessons from the Somme• Haig recorded what he saw as the lessons from the

Somme:– The only possible way of preventing the enemy from interfering

with our artillery and photo machines is to force him to defend himself in his own country- for this large numbers of fighting machines of the best are essential

– The great value of successful co-operation with the artillery– The great value of photographs taken from aeroplanes– The moral effect of superiority in the air upon our troops on the

ground had been out of all proportion to casualties inflicted upon the enemy

ABANDONED German trench 1916 Somme

Watching theBattle of the Somme

Dead on the Somme

Dead British