The Battle of Somme

Justine Faith P. Melgar

The Battle of Somme1st July – 18th November, 1916

Britain and France had noticed that their

armies up at the North of France, near the Somme river have been battered continuously by the Germans.

The Germans have also invaded Verdun, a small city at north-eastern France, and the Alliance want him out.

Why the battle took place…

Main Objectives of the Alliance:

FIRST OBJECTIVE: - To drain the Central Powers’ (mainly Germany’s) resources and supplies at Somme.

SECOND OBJECTIVE: - To regain lost land. - To regain Verdun.

The Alliance: - Great Britain - France - Russia

The Central Powers: - Germany - Turkish Ottoman Empire - Austria-Hungary

How the battle started…

As a pre-attack, the British forces, battered the German army with a week-long of shelling. This was done in hopes that Germany’s defenses would weaken before the full-attack.

Without the British’s knowledge, the Germans had hidden in underground chambers to protect themselves from the week-long shelling. The Germans also had really thick barbed wires which were said to be as thick as a finger, which weren’t as easily destroyed as the British had hoped.

The concentration of both British and German armies were up at the northern side of the Somme, while French troops were at the further south.

The Military Leaders behind both Parties…

The British and French Army:Commander-in-Chief Sir Douglas Haig

The German Army:General Fritz von Below

With pride, the British army greatly believed that the

week-long of shelling had weakened the German army greatly. And so the British soldiers marched through No Man’s Land towards the German trenches carrying only bayonets. It was even said in one account that the British officers ordered their soldiers to ‘walk’ towards the Germans in a slow, and prideful manner. Another thing was, the British had done it in broad daylight, with not a hint of cover to hide themselves.

The German army, on the other hand, almost unfazed, used machine guns to slaughter down the British soldiers who were coming onto them.

One of the bloodiest days in written history…

TheMap:

It was given this title for a reason. On the first day alone, the British army

suffered over 60, 000 casualties while the German army suffered less than 20,000.

With around almost 80,000 lives lost on only the first day, the first day of the Battle of the Somme was recorded as ‘most war casualties in a single day’ and the title remains undefeated until today.

A hundred bodies per square meter…

It was said to be the first battle in history

where tanks were used. Several war weapons were widely used for the

first time including, mines, poisonous gas and machine guns. Some machine guns used by the Germans were huge and required 12 men to operate.

It was a highly criticized battle which was said to have ‘gained so little, yet lost so many lives.

How the Battle of Somme is remembered…

The British soldiers who fought in the Battle of

Somme, were said to be inexperienced. While the soldiers on the German side were said to be war veterans.

The tanks used by the British were too slow and risky. They also required a lot of technical work.

The shells used by the British Army were made of poor-quality materials and so many were defective.

Defects of the Battle as pointed out by historians…

After 4 ½ months of bloody battle, the battle was

ended by Commander-in-Chief Sir Douglas Haig on 18th November, 1916.

The major reason was because conditions were getting worse, the rain had poured heavily which made the battlefield a muddy hell in the recent weeks. The battle was ended when the first snow fell.

The British and French have also decided that they have already lost too many and cannot continue any longer.

How the battle ended…

This is the tricky part. At the outermost extent, historians believed that

the Allied forces were able to defeat the Central Powers in this battle.

Though, some historians also say that the battle was a draw. In the end, the Allied forces gained very little ground and the number of casualties on both sides were almost equal.

Some historians believe that the amount of casualties suffered by both sides made the battle a draw.

Who won?

The British and French troops only managed to gain

8km of advancement. The battle strategies of Commander-in-Chief Sir

Douglas Haig were greatly criticized as the result of the huge life loss. He was later known as “the Butcher of the Somme”.

In the favorable side of the battle to the Alliance, they managed to destroy German resources and supplies at the Somme.

Many German veterans were lost at the battle which weakened the overall German army since then.

In the end…

Casualties by Numbers…

British Army = approx. 420,000

French Army = approx. 200,000

German Army = approx. 500,000

Lives lost in total = approx. over 1,000,000

The Battle of Somme served as a grim reminder,

especially to the British troops, to improve on their war tactics. This is the result of the events following the great blood-shed that happened on the first day, as a result of rubbish war tactics.

The German army lost a huge number of war veterans which in turn weakened its overall army. Their supplies and resources were also drained.

The tanks that were used by the British were remodeled and improved.

The impacts the Battle of Somme left on WWI…

Verdun was retaken by France. The battle showed the true horrors of trench

warfare. As to avoid the same thing to happen again, both parties since then had developed new tactics that improved conditions of soldiers in trenches.

The shells used by the British were improved and then made with better materials.

(cont.)

The Germans since then re-organized their

defensive lines and started to rely on a series of concrete pillboxes as a front line defensive. The pillboxes were placed to cover machine guns. The fortified line was also named as “the Siegfried Stellung”--- or better known as the “the Hindenburg line”.

(cont.)

The Battle of Somme1st July – 18th November, 1916

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Information for Kids, Pupils, Parents and Teachers. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2014.

(cont.)

Gilbert, Martin. The Battle of the Somme: The

Heroism and Horror of War. Toronto: M&S, 2006. Print.

Ronayne, Ian. A Gunner's Great War: An Artilleryman's Experience from the Somme to the Subcontinent. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military, 2012. Print.

Livesey, Anthony, and Jeremy Moore. Great Battles of World War I. New York: Macmillan, 1989. Print.

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