The Battle of Somme

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Joseph Joffre

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Douglas Haig

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The Battle of Somme

Did you know that during World War I, the Battle of Somme had 58,000 casualties on the first day, July 1, 1916? The BEF (British Expeditionary Force) lost a lot of their soldiers that day. In addition, it was the first battle that tanks were ever used.

In WWI, the French and British fought the Germans together. British generals decided they were going to attack the area around the Somme River in the summer. In February 1916, the German army started attacking the French at Verdun. BEF commander, Sir Douglas Haig, and the French General, Joseph Joffre, planned to attack at the Somme River to lure the Germans out of Verdun. Because the French had to defend Verdun, it was the British who mostly fought.*

The attack was preceded with an artillery bombardment that took a week long. It was for the ease of inexperienced volunteered soldiers so they could just walk to the Germans. The shells were supposed to destroy part of the German defense. They didn’t. The bombardment only prepared the Germans of the coming attack. On July 1, the soldiers walked over and got killed by prepared German machine guns. On September 15th, the tanks were used. Although only about half of them worked, they helped break through German lines. However, they were also proved unreliable because soldiers often outrun them.

Progress was slow. When the war ended on November 18th, 1916, the British-French attack gained a surprisingly few 5-6 miles despite the total casualties from all sides: over 1,000,000.*

I think making the soldiers walk towards the enemies is suicide. However, without this attack, the French would have broken at Verdun, causing the Germans to advance and win the World War. Though lots of British soldiers died, I think it was worth the sacrifice.

* = new paragraph. It won't show in this blog.

Sources:
"Lincolnshire Nostalgia." Louth Leader. 17 Sep 2008. Lincolnshire Newspaper. 16 Sep 2008 .

Duffy, Michael. "Battle of Somme 1916." First World War.com. First World War.com. 15 Sep 2008 .

Ramsdale, David. "THE BATTLE OF THE SOMME." Ramsdale Family Register. 14 Sep 2008 .

"Battle of Somme." World War One. 2008. HIstory Learning Site. 14 Sep 2008 .