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The Battle of the Somme

1915–1916 · 17 articles · about 200 min of reading

On 1 July 1916 the British and French attacked on the Somme, in an offensive agreed at Chantilly. The first day was the bloodiest in the British Army's history, and instead of a breakthrough came a battle of attrition over one village, wood and ridge after another. In September tanks went into battle for the first time in history, but the Allies did not break through and advanced about ten kilometres at most. Yet the battle relieved Verdun and bled the German army, and the two sides together lost more than a million men. The series runs from Chantilly and the first day through the summer fighting for Bazentin, Delville Wood, Pozières and Guillemont, the first tanks at Flers-Courcelette and the autumn in the mud to the last attack on the Ancre on 18 November.

The whole story in one article · 15 minBattle of the Somme1 July – 18 November 1916From 1 July to 18 November 1916 the British and French attacked on the Somme. They gained 10 km at most, and the two sides together lost over a million men.

1915

  1. 016 December 1915Event4 minSecond Chantilly ConferenceWhere the offensive came from: the Allies agreed here on simultaneous blows on all the main fronts, and the Battle of the Somme grew out of these decisions.On 6–8 December 1915, at Joffre's headquarters in Chantilly, the Allied commanders agreed on simultaneous offensives on all the main fronts in 1916.

1916

  1. 021 July 1916EventKey moment13 minFirst day on the SommeThe battle opens with the bloodiest day in the British Army's history: 57,470 losses, and 1 July 1916 became for the British a symbol of the whole war.On 1 July 1916 the British and French attacked on the Somme. The French and the British right succeeded, but the British Army lost 57,000 men.
  2. 031 July 1916EventKey moment9 minThe Lochnagar mine is blownThe first day up close: the Lochnagar mine did not bring victory, and the 34th Division attacking behind it lost more men than any other division.At 7.28 a.m. on 1 July 1916 the Lochnagar mine, the largest yet on the Western Front, went up at La Boisselle. The 34th Division's attack still failed.
  3. 041–13 July 1916BattleKey moment13 minBattle of Albert (1916)The result the battle was fought for: on 11 July Falkenhayn goes over to strict defence at Verdun and takes artillery away, and the offensive achieves its first aim.First phase of the Somme, 1–13 July 1916. In bloody fighting the British took La Boisselle, Contalmaison and Mametz Wood, below the German second line.
  4. 0514–17 July 1916BattleKey moment11 minBattle of Bazentin RidgeThe answer to 1 July: a night approach and a short bombardment bring gains at far smaller losses and show that the army can learn.On 14–17 July 1916 the British 4th Army, after a night approach and dawn assault, took the German second line from Longueval to Bazentin-le-Petit on the Somme.
  5. 0615 July – 3 September 1916BattleKey moment15 minBattle of Delville WoodThe Somme was also a battle of the Dominions: the South African Brigade holds the wood for six days and five nights under fire from three sides and comes out decimated.From 15 July to 3 September 1916 the British and Germans fought on the Somme for Delville Wood by Longueval. The South Africans faced their hardest test there.
  6. 0723 July – 3 September 1916BattleKey moment10 minBattle of Pozières RidgeThe Australian chapter: before the Canadians relieved them, the Australians lost about 23,000 men at Pozières in under seven weeks.From 23 July to 3 September 1916 three Australian divisions on the Somme took the village of Pozières and the windmill ridge, losing about 23,000 men.
  7. 083–6 September 1916BattleKey moment10 minBattle of GuillemontThe end of more than five weeks of failed attacks on the right wing: on 3 September the 20th (Light) Division takes Guillemont in less than three hours.On 3–6 September 1916 the British on the Somme took Guillemont, Falfemont Farm and Leuze Wood, for which they had fought without success since late July.
  8. 099 September 1916BattleKey moment11 minBattle of GinchyTaking Ginchy gives the British the ridge and a base for the attack of 15 September, and for Ireland the battle becomes one of the main places of memory of the war.On 9 September 1916 the Irish 16th Division took the ruins of Ginchy on the Somme, which the British had attacked in vain for a week. The flanks stalled.
  9. 1015–22 September 1916BattleKey moment14 minBattle of Flers–CourceletteThe second British attempt at a breakthrough on the Somme, and the first battle in history in which tanks were used.On 15–22 September 1916 British and Dominion troops took Flers, Martinpuich, Courcelette and High Wood on the Somme. Tanks fought for the first time.
  10. 1125–28 September 1916BattleKey moment10 minBattle of MorvalThe most successful attack since 14 July: afterwards the whole main ridge is in Allied hands, though again there is no breakthrough.On 25–28 September 1916 the British Fourth Army took Morval, Lesbœufs and Gueudecourt on the Somme, and Combles with the French. Its best attack since July.
  11. 1226–28 September 1916BattleKey moment17 minBattle of Thiepval RidgeBack to an objective of the first day: Thiepval, where thousands of British soldiers fell on 1 July and later attacks achieved nothing, now falls to the Reserve Army.On 26–28 September 1916 Gough's Reserve Army took Thiepval and Mouquet Farm on the Somme, but the Stuff and Schwaben redoubts were fought over for days more.
  12. 131–18 October 1916BattleKey moment13 minBattle of the Transloy RidgesHere the offensive reaches its limits: Rawlinson's last major attack bogs down, and after 18 October the Allies limit themselves to local attacks.On 1–18 October 1916 the British Fourth Army attacked towards Le Transloy on the Somme in rain and mud. It took Eaucourt l’Abbaye and Le Sars, but no more.
  13. 141 October – 11 November 1916BattleKey moment13 minBattle of the Ancre HeightsAutumn in the mud on the northern flank: the ridge that was meant to be the starting point for a larger offensive took six weeks to capture.From 1 October to 11 November 1916 Gough's Reserve Army, in rain and mud, took the Stuff and Schwaben redoubts and Regina Trench on the Thiepval ridge.
  14. 1513–18 November 1916BattleKey moment13 minBattle of the AncreThe last great attack closes the circle: the 51st (Highland) Division takes Beaumont-Hamel, before which the Newfoundland battalion had bled to death on 1 July.On 13–18 November 1916 Gough's Fifth Army took Beaumont-Hamel, Beaucourt and Saint-Pierre-Divion on the Ancre. Serre held and snow ended the Somme battle.
  15. 1618 November 1916EventKey moment8 minEnd of the Battle of the SommeThe reckoning and the lessons: the creeping barrage, with the infantry following close behind a wall of shells, had become the basic British method of attack by the end.On 18 November 1916, in the first snowstorm of winter, the British attacked on the Ancre for the last time. After four and a half months the Somme was over.