Page 23 - History of War - Issue 30-16

THE SOMME: 1916–2016

You just don’t know what to do, whether to get British troops resting in a support trench after the attack
up and go or stop where you are… It was a on Beaumont-Hamel. Soldiers were dismayed to return to
trenches they thought they were leaving for good
terrible, terrible feeling.”
Donald Murray, part of the King’s Own
Yorkshire Light Infantry, recalled, “All I could
see were men lying dead, men screaming, men
on the barbed wire with their bowels hanging
down, shrieking. I was just alone in a hell of ire
and smoke and stink.” By nightfall the British
survivors returned to the trenches that they had
thought they wouldn’t have to see again, in an
exhausted state. Private D Cattell said, “I went
down into a bunk and I think I slept there for 18
hours. The Germans could have walked through
if they wanted, there was nobody there.”
Sunset on the first day
The irst day of the Somme was an unmitigated
disaster. The British suffered almost 58,000
casualties, of which 19,240 were dead. The
French had lost 7,000 and the Germans
8,000. Even with the casualties of the next
two years, and even into World War II, the
British Army would never again lose so many
soldiers in one day. There were many reasons
for the catastrophe, with the chief cause
being the failure of the artillery. Despite the
eight-day barrage, there were never enough
artillery pieces, while the shells were prone
to not detonating and the shrapnel did not
cut the German wire. It also did not help that
the Germans were aware of the attack; their
defences were exceptionally well made.
There were also problems with the infantry
themselves. Although the soldiers cannot be
faulted for their bravery and determination,
the hard truth is that they were mostly
inexperienced and German irepower killed 60
per cent of the British oficers on the day, which
often left the troops leaderless. The British
were also poorly directed by their superiors. It
is true that the high commands of every army
on the Western Front had never experienced
trench ighting before, and adjusting to
industrial warfare took time.
However, the British generals made blunders
that did give credence to the later cliché
of ‘lions led by donkeys’. The troops were
ordered to walk slowly towards German lines,
to maintain cohesion and a rigid formation;
but this slow progression, laden with heavy
equipment, made them easy targets. Also, the
Allied frontline was 40 kilometres long, with
the British taking up 25 kilometres of it. This
made the advance too broad and displayed an
inherent complacency that the Germans would
crumble under the initial barrage.
The irst-day failure meant that the battle
continued until November. By then only 11
kilometres of ground had been taken with over “THE FAILURE OF THE FIRST DAY MEANT
1,120,000 lost men from all armies, making
the Battle of the Somme one of the bloodiest THAT THE BATTLE CONTINUED UNTIL
in history.
The slaughter of the irst day remains the NOVEMBER. BY THEN ONLY 11 KILOMETRES
most shocking from a British perspective and
it was keenly felt at home. One royal engineer, OF GROUND HAD BEEN TAKEN WITH OVER
Thomas Dewing, recalled, “At the irst church
had been. The infantry came in a mere handful. 1,120,000 LOST MEN FROM ALL ARMIES,
parade we’d had an idea what a shambles it
And the colonels sat in front of what was left of MAKING THE BATTLE OF THE SOMME ONE OF
In each battalion, a mere handful of people.
their battalions, sat there sobbing. Frankly the THE BLOODIEST IN HISTORY”
Battle of the Somme was a ghastly mistake.”

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