1916. Europe is in the grips of the most destructive
conflict yet known: World War One. Much of the fiercest fighting take place on
the Western Front, where British, French and German armies are locked in a bloody stalemate
along 450 miles of trenches. There have been millions of casualties, but
neither side can break the deadlock. The combination of barbed wire, machineguns and
heavy artillery means troops trying to cross No Man's Land, the open ground between the
trenches, are slaughtered en masse. The advantage is always with the defender. But the Allies are committed to more attacks.
They're determined to liberate the parts of France and Belgium that were occupied by Germany
in the first months of the war. The British and French have agreed to launch
a joint offensive in the summer of 1916. But the Germans strike first. In February,
they launch a massive assault on the French fortress-city of Verdun. Its defence requires
all available French reserves. So the summer offensive will be led by the
British, their biggest attack of the war so far - its chief aim now, to relieve pressure
on the French at Verdun. The attack will take place along a 25 mile
front near the River Somme, in July. The new British commander, General Sir Douglas
Haig, would prefer to attack near Ypres, where there are clearer strategic objectives, but
the Somme is where the British and French armies meet, so where a joint offensive must
take place. He would also prefer to wait until his inexperienced divisions have received
more training... but the French need his help now. The Somme has so far been a quiet sector,
allowing the Germans to build up strong defensive positions. Here the Germans have two formidable, defensive
lines... with a third under construction. Each consists of three lines of trenches:
fire; support; and reserve; connected by communication trenches. They bristle with machinegun positions;
and are anchored on fortified villages and strongpoints. In front of the trenches, there
are thick belts of barbed wire. Below, are dugouts, some 10 metres deep, to
shelter German troops from artillery fire. Telephone lines, buried six feet deep, allow
troops at the front to communicate with artillery batteries during an attack. The German troops that hold the line are well-trained,
and most are combat veterans. 'They know we're coming all right!' The offensive will be led by the British Fourth
Army, commanded by Lieutenant General Sir Henry Rawlinson. With Haig, he draws up the
plan of attack. To overcome the Germans' formidable defences,
the British will carry out a massive, week-long artillery bombardment with fourteen hundred
guns. This is expected to destroy German barbed wire, flatten trenches, and kill their occupants. 19 mines are also dug under key German strongpoints,
and filled with explosive, ready to detonate just before the attack begins. To the north, British Third Army will make
a diversionary attack at Gommecourt. The 16 British and French infantry divisions
are then expected to take their objectives with minimal opposition. The attack will begin at 7.30am, in broad
daylight, so the artillery can observe its fire. British morale is high, and the men are confident
of victory. Many of the units taking part are Pals Battalions, the eager recruits of
1914, now about to face combat for the first time. But on the eve of the assault, there are worrying
reports that the British bombardment has been only partially successful. 1.6 million shells are fired, but due to inexperienced
gun crews, a shortage of heavy guns, and faulty shells, much of the German barbed wire remains
intact. German defenders, too, are largely unscathed
in their deep dugouts. And from captured prisoners, and listening
in on uncoded telephone calls, the Germans know exactly when and where the British are
coming. The Allied artillery bombardment reaches its
peak at 7am. At 7.20, the British detonate an enormous
mine under a German strongpoint, the Hawthorn Redoubt, and British troops rush forward to
occupy the crater. At 7.28, further mines are detonated under
German strongpoints along the front. At 7.30, the Allied bombardment moves on to
the German second line, as British and French infantry begin their advance across No Man's
Land. German troops, meanwhile, race up from their dugouts to set up machineguns. It's an enduring myth that all the British
infantry climb out of their trenches, and walk steadily towards the German line. A few
units do, but most send men out into No Man's Land before the bombardment lifts, so the
final dash toward the enemy line is as short as possible. In the northern sector, whichever tactics
are used, the British are easy targets for German machine-gunners, especially where they
bunch up to get through the few gaps in the barbed wire. The British infantry advance bravely, but
are mown down in their hundreds. Some units do break into the German line – near
Thiepval, the 36th Ulster Division captures the Schwaben Redoubt, but without support
on either flank, it's isolated, and the survivors are forced to retreat that night. On their
right, the 32nd Division takes the Leipzig Redoubt. While near La Boiselle, the 34th
Division captures the Lochnagar mine-crater. But these are just small toeholds in the German
line, far short of their objectives. In World War One, one of the greatest challenges
faced by commanders is getting accurate information about the course of the battle. Reliable field
radios haven't been invented yet. Telephone lines are regularly cut by shellfire. So officers
must turn to messengers; flag-signals; light-signals; even homing pigeons - none of which is completely
reliable. To get around this problem, during an attack,
supporting artillery works to a fixed timetable, moving their fire onto the next line of enemy
defences at a set time. So when the infantry start their attack, gunners
adjust their fire onto the second line of enemy defences. But if the infantry get held up, the supporting
fire keeps moving on according to the timetable: the infantry get left behind, and are at the
mercy of enemy machineguns. Aerial observation, by balloons and aircraft,
can provide valuable information, but rely on good weather, and control of the skies. This is why on 1st July, it takes British
commanders hours, even days, to find out which attacks have been successful, and which have
failed. This makes it extremely difficult for them to react to the situation with any
speed. Further south, there is much greater success.
Despite heavy losses, the 21st and 7th Divisions take Mametz, and cut-off the heavily-defended
village of Fricourt, which the Germans abandon overnight. On their right, the 18th and 30th Divisions
take their objectives, including the village of Montauban, which is secure by 11am. Alongside them, the veteran French Twentieth
Corps also takes its first day objectives, as well as two-and-a-half thousand German
prisoners. The Germans didn't expect the offensive to
extend so far south, and are less well-prepared. And crucially, the Allied bombardment is boosted
by French heavy guns, which are much more effective at destroying barbed wire and German
strongpoints. At 09.30am, French colonial troops lead the
attack south of the Somme river. The French seize all their objectives, and take 3,000
more prisoners. Despite success in the south, the first day
of the Battle of the Somme is a costly failure for the British.
Germans losses for the day are estimated at 12,000 men; the French lose 7,000. But the
British suffer a staggering 57,000 casualties - one third of them killed.
1st July 1916 becomes the bloodiest day in the history of the British Army. And it's just the first day in a battle that
rages for another four months, finally ending in November, amid freezing rain and mud.
By then the Allies have advanced 10 miles, at a cost of 430,000 British casualties; 200,000
French casualties; and 450,000 German. It makes the Battle of the Somme one of the
bloodiest in history. In British popular memory, the Somme is remembered
as an unmitigated disaster, and tragedy: evidence of the incompetence of British generals, and
the pointless sacrifice of the gallant soldiers under their command.
But to those who fought it, and those at home, the Battle of the Somme was seen as a success:
Casualties were enormous, and hard to bear; but across Europe, every warring nation was
suffering terrible losses, as all commanders struggled to find an answer to trench warfare. And at the Somme, the British had not only
helped save their French ally, who went on to defeat the Germans at Verdun, but learned
vital lessons about how to fight on the Western Front. Most of all, the Battle of the Somme had been
a costly, but necessary, wearing down of the German army – an immensely painful, but
vital step on the long road to victory. Maps and research for this video come from
Osprey Publishing's Campaign series... Every Osprey book examines a particular battle,
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Someone should do a stickied remembrance thread for anniversaries of certain battles. Especially for battles with surviving footage.
Thanks for the link.
Insanity.
1 million men in 4 months.
15 minute documentary including primitive footage and photos.
Very unnecessary battle in a very unnecessary war. These people died for basically nothing.