CASUALTY LIST OF HEROES FALLEN 1st JULY 1916 BATTLE OF THE SOMME
Layman's guide to The Battle of the Somme
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Transcript of Layman's guide to The Battle of the Somme
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The Battle of the Somme: A Layman’s Guide.
Scott Addington
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For many people The Battle of the Somme is synonymous with military blundering and unnecessary slaughter.
Picture: IWM Q65442
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It is true that the first day of the battle is still the blackest moment in British military history…
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… but the battle was more than just one day.
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And the story starts way before July 1st 1916.
1914
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Field Marshall Earl Kitchener of Khartoum became Minister of War on 5th August 1914 and immediately put together plans to
expand the British Army.
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He did not think the war would be over by Christmas. Instead he foresaw a long drawn out conflict that would require many more
men than the BEF currently had.
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Kitchener didn’t want to rely on the Territorial Army for the expansion because they could opt-out and avoid overseas service.
Shoulder badge of the 10th Btn. Royal Scots. Territorial Army
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Instead he went about building an army of volunteers. The ‘Call to Arms’ went out and the country listened…
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… two weeks later 100,000 men had joined up. Kitchener had his first Army: K1.
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To help the recruitment effort men were encouraged to join up with friends and work colleagues into what
became known as ‘Pals’ Battalions.
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By the end of Sept 1914 over 50 towns had formed one or more Pals Battalions. K2 was born.
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By March 1915 enough men had volunteered to make five new Armies and a sixth was well on its way.
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Almost 600,000 men had answered Kitchener’s call in 6 months.A quite remarkable achievement.
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Over the following months the issues of training and equipping these new recruits were slowly solved…
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… and by the beginning of 1916 the Kitchener’s men were itching to give ‘The Hun’ a good kicking.
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It had long been decided that the main Allied assault on the Western Front in 1916 would be in the Somme region.
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It was originally planned to be a French assault with British support.
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The objective was simple: To smash the German Army and deplete their reserves of men and equipment.
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As it was going to be their show, it was France who decided to attack across the Somme region.
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Haig didn’t agree. He preferred an attack in the north of Belgium, but was forced to agree with his French friends.
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Eventually it was all agreed. The ‘Big Push’ was penciled in for August 1916.
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Germany however ruined all of that planning when they decided to attack Verdun at the beginning of 1916.
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Suddenly it was France on the receiving end of a beating.
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It quickly became apparent that France was going to struggle to lead any kind of major offensive in the summer.
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In fact, it was touch and go as to whether they would survive at all.
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France needed help. Fast.
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The ‘Big Push’ was now going to be a large scale British diversionary attack to relieve the pressure on Verdun.
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Also, instead of being August, it was moved forward to 1st July.
1st July 1916
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Haig’s plan was simple...
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Use more guns than have ever been used before…
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… to fire more shells than have ever been fired before…
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… for longer than had ever been done before.
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The German defenses would stand no chance. They would be totally smashed to pieces.
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Once the artillery had done their worst, the infantry (750,000 men, many from Kitchener’s Armies)
would advance and consolidate.
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The British guns smashed the German lines for 8 days prior to the infantry advance.
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However, due to a mixture of poor quality ammunition and world class German defenses the bombardment failed.
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German wire was not destroyed, their defences were still intact and morale was not broken.
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2 minutes before ‘Zero’ several huge mines were detonated underneath the German lines.
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However, when the British infantry advanced the German machine gunners were ready and waiting.
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The advancing infantry were either cut down in No Man’s Land or forced back to their own lines.
Any success was isolated and temporary.
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The result was carnage.The British Army suffered 57,470 casualties that day.
A third of that number were killed.
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It still stands as the blackest day in the history of the British Army.
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Despite this, Haig continued to press the offensive over the following days and weeks.
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On 11th July the first line of the German defense system was secured.
Soldiers of 11th Btn. Cheshire Regiment occupy a captured German trench. July 1916 (IWM Q3990)
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That same day Germany moved significant men from Verdun to the Somme area, doubling the amount of men available.
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The fighting continued throughout the summer, each side trying to smash the other into submission, but to no avail.
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On 15th September 1916 the British attacked again in the Battle of Flers-Courcellete. It was here that the tank made its operational
debut.
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Although the tanks scared the hell out of the Germans, poor reliability and tactics meant these ‘land ships’
failed to make a real impact in the fighting.
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The fighting continued until the snow of November forced the suspension of operation. The Allies had gained a slither of tortured
land 8 miles across at its deepest point.
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Britain and her Empire lost 419,654 men (wounded and killed) during the Battle of the Somme.
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Germany took a beating too, with casualties of around 500,000.
Fricourt German Cemetery. Photo from www.ww1battlefields.co.uk
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Germany was also forced to stop attacking Verdun, allowing the French to rest and regroup.
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So, even though the tactics of the battle remain controversial, Haig could be forgiven for saying ‘job done’.
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This slideshare was inspired by the e-bookWorld War One: A Layman’s Guide
Available on Kindle for less than the price of a cup of coffee.
Amazon.co.ukhttp://tinyurl.com/mksc329
Amazon.comhttp://tinyurl.com/lvbe4d2
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Lest we forget.