Interesting Facts about the Battle of the Somme Others say that he had no choice but to move ahead with the attack in order to relieve the French at the Battle of Verdun. Some say that British Commander Haig wasted men and resources in a flawed battle plan. Historians today dispute the impact of the battle. With over 1,000,000 total casualties on each side, the Battle of the Somme was one of the bloodiest battles in human history. The Germans had around 500,000 casualties. During that time they gained around seven miles of territory, but suffered around 623,000 casualties including 423,000 British and 200,000 French. They didn't let up on the attack until November 18. They suffered around 60,000 casualties including 20,000 dead on that first day of battle.ĭespite the heavy casualties, the Allies continued to attack. It was the worst day in the history of British warfare.
They were easily gunned down by the Germans. Thousands of British soldiers got out of their trenches and began to advance on the German lines. After eight days, on July 1, 1916, they ordered the attack. The Allied commanders refused to take warning that the bombardment didn't work. Little real damage was done to the German fortifications and many of the British shells were duds and never even exploded. However, the Germans were warned of the bombardment. They bombarded the Germans constantly for eight straight days with 3,000 guns. They believed that this bombardment would destroy the front lines of the German trenches allowing the soldiers to walk in and take over. Tanks were first used at the Battle of the Sommeīefore the actual attack, the Allies began by bombarding the German lines. The French also demanded that the British push up the attack at the Somme from August 1st to July 1st in hopes that German forces would be diverted from Verdun to the Somme. French troops were sent to Verdun to hold off the Germans. However, their plans were changed when the Germans went on the offensive and attacked the French at the Battle of Verdun. The British and French were planning a major offensive attack at the Somme in hopes of breaking the stalemate and pushing the Germans out of France. The German commanders included General Rupprecht (the Crown Prince of Bavaria), General Max von Gallwitz, and General Fritz von Below.įor nearly two years since the First Battle of the Marne, the two sides had been engaged in trench warfare along the western front. Other Allied leaders included French General Ferdinand Foch and British General Henry Rawlinson. The horror of the battle was magnified by the extensive use of poisonous gasses, flamethrowers and, obviously, extensive and devastating use of artillery that basically created a "moon" landscape on Earth!Īt the end nobody really "won" as we are used to think of a normal battle: the Germans were repelled and went back to their starting trenches but the "victorious" French paid a terrible price, that greatly damaged their army, to defend a place that was, basically, strategically useless.The British were led by Commander-in-Chief Sir Douglas Haig. The French, under Petain, were forced to defend every inch of ground suffering terrible casualties. The initial idea of the German commander in chief Falkenhayn was to nail down the French in a position they were forced to defend at any cost (for reasons of historical and of national pride, the fortress of Verdun) and in doing so get bled to death loosing as many soldiers as possible (battle of attrition), annihilate their army and possibly be forced to sue for peace.
In total Germans and French lost during the battle about #500,000# men (or more) and while for the French was a "glorious" victory (they were able to defend and retain a place of historical importance but strategically irrelevant) for the Germans was the first serious defeat of their mighty and proud army.Īlso, for both the contenders was a battle that decimated their armies without giving a decisive victory for the outcome of the war.
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