Battle of the Somme
Considered the most bloody battle of World War One, the Battle of the Somme was fought by the armies of the British Empire and the French Third Republic against the German Empire, lasting from July 1st to November 18th, 1916.
While the French and British had committed themselves to an offensive along the banks of the Somme River in France, the Allies agreed upon a strategy for a combined offensive against the Central Powers in early 1916 by the French, Russian, British and Italian armies, with the Somme offensive comprising the Franco-British contribution in the push to crush the Bosch and thereby shorten the war.
Prior to the first offensive, the Allies launched a week-long heavy artillery bombardment, which saw more than 1.75 million shells hurled at a 15-mile German front north of the Somme River, which aimed to cut the barbed wire guarding German defenses, at the same time destroying the enemy’s entrenched positions.
Battle of The Somme Bloodshed Begins
When ground fighting began on July the First, the German 2nd Army suffered a crushing defeat against the French and the British, yet the victory came with egregious losses to Allied personnel. The British alone would suffer 57,470 casualties, including 19,240 killed-in-action, making it the single most disastrous day in British military history.
The battle was further notable for the importance of airpower, as well as the first appearance of the armored tank in 20th century mechanized warfare. The battle would rage on for nearly five long months, yet by October, bad weather stymied all hopes of an Allied victory, with Allied soldiers struggling to cross muddy terrain under fearsome attacks by German artillery and fighter planes.
The Allies made their final advance in mid-November, attacking German positions in the Ancre River valley, until the arrival of true winter shut down the Allies’ offensive on November 18th, ending a fearsome battle of attrition along the banks of the Somme, at least until the following spring.
Who Won the Battle of Somme
Over the 141 day offensive, the Allies had advanced just seven miles, failing completely in their fight to break the German line. While the battle was intended to hasten victory over German aggression, the stalemate would see more than three million men fight in the battle of the Somme, with over one million wounded or killed-in-action, making the battle of the Somme one of the deadliest conflicts in recorded human history.