The Battle of the Somme was a British and French joint offensive aimed at German lines, and was part of a wider campaign of co-ordinated attacks launched against the Central Powers with Russia and Italy.
The offensive was planned to cause a decisive break through of the German lines.
A week long bombardment by British artillery on the German lines led to confidence that there would be little resistance when it came to capturing the German trenches.
However, reports that up to a third of British shells did not explode on impact and that the Germans had already heard rumours of the Somme Offensive and constructed defenses, meant that it was not the “simple victory” British commanders had expected.
French advances were considerably more successful, but could not be maintained across the line as the British advanced slowed and encountered resistance.
By the end of the battle, British and French forces had advanced, but had not met some of their key objectives.
It is estimated that there were over 1 million casualties from the battle on all sides.
On the first day of the assault, the British Army had suffered 60,000 casualties.
The battle is still considered the worst set of casualties sustained in the British Army’s History.
The Battle of the Somme still attracts controversy in terms of commanding officers’ tactics and the loss of the life in relation to the amount of territory captured.
As such, the battle continues to diverge public and academic opinion as to which party, if any, was the victor.
Posted by: Daniel Barry, Centenary News