It is known by the name of Battle of the Sommealthough some historians, it is true, also know it as the “Somme Offensive”. In any case, they all agree on something fundamental: it was one of the largest battles of the First World War, since it took place between July 1 and November 1, 1916, near the river of the same name ( Somme) in France. In addition, it is also considered as one of the bloodiest military battles in history.
In fact, the first day alone, the British troops suffered the loss of 57,000 soldiers. And, at the end of the campaign, the Allied side and the Central Powers would lose more than 1.5 million men.
What was the Battle of the Somme?
At the beginning of 1916, the French proposed a joint French-British offensive on the Somme River (France). And, mainly due to the incidents at Verdun, the British Army took the lead role in this offensive.
Therefore, on July 1, 1916, the British Army began the offensive by attacking north of the Somme River with a total of fourteen infantry divisions. While the French, astride, attacked south of the somme with just five divisions. To defend itself, the German army did the same, but with five divisions.
The British attack was planned by Douglas Haig and Henry Rawlinson, COG Fourth Army. The two, it is true, differed in two no less important aspects: regarding the depth of the offensive and the duration of the bombardment, so that the plan adopted was rather an uncomfortable mix.
Artillery became one of the key elements of the offensive, but it did not have the ability to destroy the deepest German trenches, knock out all enemy guns, or provide a useful barrier to infantry attack. Furthermore, on the first day, the artillery ended up moving too quickly away from the German trenches, leaving the infantry exposed.
The French, however, had much heavier artillery and attacked quickly, allowing more ground to be captured, and fewer casualties.
After July 1, a kind of stalemate was established – quite long, it must be said – with the German army digging defenses; although they carried it out very quickly. So much so that the allied attacks could not be more effective. And there were, therefore, small advances. But despite this, Somme became a bloody battle of attrition. And Haig, in fact, was heavily criticized for prolonging the campaign into the winter, especially during the last six weeks.
It could be considered that the so-called Battle of the Somme it was the first major offensive of the First World War for British soldiers, which caused the British, from then on, to have a much more critical attitude towards the war. Furthermore, during and after this battle, the British Army began a real improvement in tactics. While the French soldiers made greater progress on the first day, compared to the British (counting fewer casualties).
But, far from how the Battle or the offensive was, there is no doubt that what is most remembered are the human losses. On the first day of the offensive, as we mentioned at the beginning, on July 1, 1916, the British suffered the loss of 57,470 soldiersmore than the total recorded British casualties combined in the Crimean, Korean and Boer wars.
In contrast, the French, with fewer divisions (it is true), barely suffered 2,000 casualties.
But by the time the offensive ended in November, specifically on November 1, 1916, the British had suffered 420,000 casualtieswhile the French had recorded around 200,000 casualties. However, the number of German victims is certainly controversial, since this data is not known for sure. However, it seems that the most accurate figure is 465,000 soldiers.
In any case, there is no doubt that the Battle of the Somme became a costly lesson in how not to carry out effective attacks. But, it is true, the German army was also weakened to the point that, in the month of February 1917, it withdrew to new and shorter defensive lines.