![]() ![]() The map shows the position of the front line just before the start of the offensive. The Somme offensive was begun by the British Fourth Army (red) and the French Sixth Army (blue), attacking the German Second Army (green). Part of a map contained in the British Official History. The artillery bombardment before the infantry attack British infantry on the Vaux-sur-Somme road, 1916. The logistical preparations necessary before the offensive The tactical planning for the start of the offensive The political and strategic background to the offensive The Somme is also the source of more mythology and mis-interpretation of the Great War than any other action in which Britain participated with the possible exception of the campaign at Gallipoli. The British army in France is now approaching its maximum strength in numbers but is still developing in terms of tactics, technology, command and control. 15 September 1916 saw the first-ever use of tanks in the step known as the Battle of Flers-Courcelette. For all armies on the Western Front it was becoming what the Germans would call “materialschlacht”: a war not of morale, will or even manpower, but of sheer industrial material might. Huge British losses on the first day and a series of fiercely-contested steps that became attritional in nature. ![]() A Franco-British offensive that was undertaken after Allied strategic conferences in late 1915, but which changed its nature due to the German attack against the French in the epic Battle of Verdun, which lasted from late February to November. Yet fighting continued around Verdun until 1918.1 July – 18 November 1916: the Somme. There were more than 700,000 victims – 305,000 killed and missing and 400,000 wounded (approximately), with almost identical losses on both sides. The 1916 battle ended after ten months of bitter fighting. It was empty – the Germans had already left.įrom 15 to 18 December, the French attacked again, retaking almost all the land they had lost since 21 February. On 24 October 1916, they recaptured Fort Douaumont and, a few days later, they entered Fort Vaux. ![]() ![]() In the autumn of 1916, the French counter-attacked. The Germans tried to capture the town one last time, on 11 and 12 July, but they failed again. On 1 July, the British and French launched a major offensive on the Somme, relieving some of the pressure being put on the French troops by the Germans in Verdun. In all, some 4,000 trucks, 2,000 cars, 800 ambulances, 200 buses and numerous vans passed along it.įrom 6 March 1916, the Germans also attacked on the left bank of the River Meuse yet despite furious fighting on Le Mort-Homme in March and April they were unable to breach the French front line.Īt the end of June, having taken Fort Vaux, they launched a massive attack which failed – but only just. He increased the volume of traffic along the Bar-le-Duc to Verdun road, later known as the “Sacred Way”, the only route taking men and munitions up to the battlefield. General Pétain then took command of the troops. Despite heavy shelling, the French infantrymen (known as “ Poilus”) clung on to their positions and the Germans were unable to advance any further. The French High Command was anxious to retake the fort because of its dominant position high above the battlefield. During the first few days, the Germans breached the French front lines and captured Fort Douaumont without a fight on 25 February 1916. ![]()
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