The Battle of The Somme The Battle of
The Battle of The Somme
The Battle of the Somme July 1 1916 French and British offensive meant to drain the German reserves Beginning 1916 Germany begins attack at Verdun The Somme becomes a method of pulling German troops from Verdun
The Battle of the Somme France is unable to contribute as many soldiers as initially thought as they are defending Verdun Attack preceded by 8 days of artillery bombardment Artillery was supposed to virtually destroy German defenses
The Battle of the Somme Artillery bombardment was ineffective Barbed wire was still intact, German machine guns were not destroyed, bunkers were intact, troops took shelter until barrage was over
The Battle of the Somme British shells were poorly made, some didn’t explode, others did not hit their targets 7: 30 am first wave of troops goes “over the top” Attack was not a surprise to the Germans and they were ready
The Battle of the Somme British suffered 58 000 casualties the first day alone The 1 st NFl. D regiment suffered 91% casualties Most did not even make it to the front lines before they were killed French made more significant gains to the south
The Battle of the Somme The offensive lasted until November Resulted in 12 km of territory gained for the allies The tank was employed for the first time by the British
Nationality Great Britain Total casualties 360, 000+ Killed & missing Canada 24, 029 Australia 23, 000 New Zealand 7, 408 Ireland 25, 000 South Africa 3, 000+ Newfoundland 2, 000+ Total British Empire French 419, 654 95, 675 204, 253 50, 756 Total Allied 623, 907 146, 431 Germany 465, 000 164, 055 Prisoners < 200 31, 000
The Battle of the Somme The failures of the battle: 1. Lack of planning 2. Lack of reconnaissance 3. Poor communication 4. Poor quality artillery shells 5. Poor military strategy ie. Start time 6. Unwillingness to change plan after initial tragedy 7. Lack of surprise
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