The Battle of the Somme
Overview
The Battle of the Somme is seen by many as a disastrous bloodbath engineered and executed by Earl Haig.
It lasted from 24 June until 19 November 1916. Through the course of the battle, the Germans too lost thousands of men, which in the longer term destroyed their ability to fight a prolonged war. Objectively, the Allies had more soldiers in reserve than the Germans, but at any rate 'Haig' and 'The Somme' seem inextricably linked.
Plan to relieve presssure at Verdun
German defences had been greatly strengthened since the Battle of Loos, nine months previously. Haig thought that an intense bombardment of the German barbed wire entanglements and of their trenches and machine gun positions along an extended stretch of 25 miles of the River Somme would create an easy path for British infantrymen to attack second-line enemy trenches.
An attack by chiefly British Army forces and their French allies on the Somme would relieve the pressure on the French Army defending Verdun. The huge onslaught would also wear down the strength of the German Army and assist Allied forces in other Theatres of War by preventing further transfer of German troops from the Western Front.
According to Lloyd George: 'It [the Somme Battle] was not responsible for the failure of the German effort to capture Verdun. For the disastrous loss of the finest manhood of the United Kingdom and Ireland there was only a small gain of ground to show … the losses sustained were not only heavy but irreplaceable'. ('War memoirs of Lloyd George, 1915-16', Boston: Little Brown, 1933, pp.9-10).
'Over the top' on 1 July
The Army had been raised through enlistment during the previous two years, was highly trained and represented a willing voluntary force. It was also very well equipped, but the artillery bombardment had not managed to break down the German lines sufficiently. Many German machine gun posts and barbed wire defences were simply left intact after the Allied bombardment which lasted for five days before orders were given to attack on 1 July 1916.
Soldiers given the order to go 'over the top' were not only weighed down and restricted by their heavy kit, but also had to negotiate terrain so badly churned up by the preceding bombardments that a 10-miles advance was the greatest distance achieved during the entire battle.
Because of this, the British and Imperial Armies received a huge amount of casualties during the battle.
Appalling losses on both sides
On 1 July 1916, the first day of the infantry attack, they suffered appalling losses: 20,000 being killed and 40,0000 wounded. During the first 10 days of battle, Britain had suffered 200,000 casualties. After 20 weeks this number had risen to 400,000. The battle ground to a halt in the November snow and mud.
Nevertheless, although the combined allied losses of 600,000 were appalling, the German Army lost even more men and never fully recovered. For this reason, many believe that, despite its apparent futility, the Somme was the turning point of the war.
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