The Battle of the Somme
"However the world wishes to divide itself, there are only two divisions in the world today-human beings and the Germans."
"However the world wishes to divide itself, there are only two divisions in the world today-human beings and the Germans."
It took place near the Somme river, France between the Germans and the Allies consisting mostly of English men. Lasting 4 months from July 1, 1916 to November 18, 1916, this battle was one of the longest in WWI.
This was two years after the battle of the Marne and during the battle of Verdun.
This was two years after the battle of the Marne and during the battle of Verdun.
The Original Plan:
- This battle was fought not only in hopes of breaking the stalemate, but also to divert the Germany's attention to France at Verdun.
- The British planned to bombard the Germans in hopes to break the German's front lines.
- After that, they planned to attack non-stop.
The Attack:
- The British pounded the German army with bombs as planned. However, the Germans, being warned, had taken shelter and waited; thus, this attack did not result in much damage.
- After that, the British basically just charged forward, being easily shot down by the Germans.
- The British kept attacking like this for 4 months. In this time, they gained 6 miles of territory and many casualties.
- This battle ended in November mostly due to snow.
Weapons:
Casualties:
This battle had some very mixed reviews; some thought the British had wasted soldiers, some say it worked- they distracted the Germans from the French.
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- During the barrage onto the Germans, the British used 3,000 guns and 1,600,000 shells.
- The first tanks used in WWI for offense were used by the British in this battle.
Casualties:
- On just that 1st day of the British attacking, the British had 60,000 injured and 20,000 dead.
- On the British side, they lost 623,000 soldiers to casualties; they lost 89,000 per mile they gained!
- The Germans lost 500,000 to casualties.
This battle had some very mixed reviews; some thought the British had wasted soldiers, some say it worked- they distracted the Germans from the French.
Want more information? Try these websites: