Ninety years ago

For seven days, over a million shells had been fired into the German lines, in the hope of softening the front for an Anglo-French attack either side of the River Somme.

For most of 1916 the German’s had been threatening to overrun the French at Verdun, the symbolic fort town that had always been a buttress of French resistance. If Verdun were lost, the Germans would have a clear path across the Champagne plains to Paris. Allied generals had decided that a second front needed to be opened to blunt the German advance, and prevent the loss of the French capital. The British would have preferred to attack the Germans from the North, via Belgium, which would have helped the British protect their supply lines by disrupting German U-Boat operations in the North Sea. The British were junior partners in this front and the integrity of the French lines was deemed supremely important, and so, plans were drawn up for the huge offensive from the west.

General Haig of the British Army was confident that his 13-divisions (supported by six French divisions) would easily pass through the German defences, who had been pummelled for days. Other plans had also been made, including: ten mines that had been dug under the German lines and filled with tonnes of explosives, ready to be detonated prior to zero-hour.

The Battle of The Somme must be viewed in the context of Verdun. In the battle of Verdun, trench warfare had been pioneered, and the world had been introduced to the horrors of this new war of attrition. Flamethrowers had been introduced for the first time, and the Germans had used gas to kill the French in huge numbers. While Verdun did have huge geographic importance, the Germans soon decided that the overall destruction of the French Army was dependent on its outcome. Germany had more troops and much better supply lines than the French, and the dogged resistance of Robert Nivelle, meant that the French would fight to the death. As Nivelle famously declared: “Ils ne passeront pas.”

German successes in Verdun also meant that the French could spare fewer divisions, in the Somme offensive, than initially promised. Britain had also already lost much of its regular army in the previous two-years, and now had a force made up mainly of recent volunteers from the Territorial Force and volunteer members of Lord Kitchener’s New Army, which had only formed at the outset of the Great War. Compared to the battle-hardened French, the British were inexperienced, and many officers had been fast tracked to replace those shot (at this time officers were dressed differently to infantrymen and could be easily picked off by enemy riflemen). Indeed even General Haig, Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), had only been recently installed after a rapid rise from commander of British I Corps at the start of the war.

At 07:20 the first of the mines were detonated, and slowly the barrage of shelling began to stop. Eight minutes later the other mines were detonated (although one was late), and at 07:30 on the 1st July 1916, the noise of whistles could be heard across the British and French lines as the decision to go “over the top” had been made.

The impact of The Battle of The Somme remains a scar on the British psyche. No other battle conveys the futility of war, and the massive sacrifice our servicemen make when we go to battle. The Germans had suffered the bulk of the artillery assault well and remained resolute. Thousands had dug in deep and many of the shells had not detonated. General Haig is as vilified as he is lionised for his strategic decisions during the long offensive.

Instructed to walk towards the German lines, in the belief that the shell-shocked Germans would easily capitulate, the British suffered an awesome unforeseen volley of German resistance. In one attack an entire Brigade was cut down before they had even passed the foremost allied trenches, with German machine gunners picking them off as they appeared.

On one day, ninety years ago, the British army suffered almost 60,000 casualties, including 19,240 dead - the single largest loss of life on a single day by the British Army. North of The Somme the attack was a total failure, with a complete breakdown of communication leaving British generals completely blind as to any progress. Inaccurate reposts led to misallocation of reserve units, and the German counter-attacks from dug-in positions annihilated entire battalions. South of The Somme the more experienced Anglo-French attack fared better, gaining some success and achieving their first-day objectives, indeed some French units exceeded them.

The overall opening salvo of The Battle of The Somme was a disaster for the British. At Ovillers (a village in Northern France), the British losses were catastrophic, outnumbering German losses 18-1. However in the context of the war, and while also looking though the prism of Verdun, the overall battle, which lasted into early November, was a success. While the battle only succeeded in advancing allied forces some 5-miles, the back of the German army was broken, with the Germans casualties amounting to 650,000. The cost to the Anglo-French forces were equally horrifying with the British losing 420,000 men, and the French suffering some 195,000 casualties.

The Battle of The Somme should always represent two things. One is the futility of war, and the chaos of battle. For just five miles, tens of thousands of good men were minced into dust, destroying families and wrecking communities. British carpenters and factory workers fought against their German counterparts with whom they had no personal dispute. Fathers faced down fathers, and saw their sons lost in a hail of bullets. Friends who had volunteered together, died together, and some communities lost whole generations of men.

The second lesson we should take from the Somme, is that no matter how meticulously planned a battle may be, it will always depend on the ability and experience of generals to react to every eventuality, and to achieve victory, few things are more important than accurate and timely information. In battles that stretch for some 25-miles, communication is just as important as supply lines and geography. The inexperience of the British lines was only matched by the ignorance and arrogance of its command. These are lessons that should never be forgotten.

War is not some declaration that is signed, or some vote in parliament, it is the fight between man and man to the death. Kings, dictators, and politicians wage wars, but they, and their children, rarely fight them. This post is not written to condemn war outright, some wars are just ones, and some fights are worthy ones, but we must choose our fights carefully, for it is not politicians that pay for them, but the children, wives, and husbands of the many. No decision is greater for any leader, than the one that rips apart families and sends boys and men to die. Therefore no leader should ever offer this sacrifice without being completely honest with his people. People are brave, people realise that sacrifices must be made, and people care for the land that feeds them. If a war is just, if a threat is real, men will stand up and be counted. If a war is right, there is never any need to lie.

Further reading:

The Battle of The Somme - BBC
The Battle of The Somme - Wiki
General Haig - Wiki
The Battle of Verdun - Wiki