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The Battle of the Somme, fought in the
summer and autumn of 1916, was one of the largest battles of the
First World War. With more than one million casualties, it was
also one of the bloodiest battles in human history. The Allied
forces attempted to break through the German lines along a
25-mile (40 km) front north and south of the River Somme in
northern
France. One purpose of the battle was
to draw German forces away from the Battle of Verdun; however,
by its end the losses on the Somme had exceeded those at Verdun.
While
Verdun would bite deep in the national consciousness
of France for generations, the Somme would have the same effect on generations of
Britons. The battle is best remembered for its first day, 1 July
1916, on which the British suffered 57,470 casualties, including
19,240 dead — to this day the bloodiest day in the history of
the British Army. As terrible as the battle was for the
British Empire troops who suffered there, it
naturally affected the other nationalities as well. One German
officer famously described it as "the muddy grave of the German
field army." By the end of the battle, the British had learnt
many lessons in modern warfare, while the Germans had suffered
irreplaceable losses. British historian Sir James Edmonds
stated, "It is not too much to claim that the foundations of the
final victory on the Western Front were laid by the
Somme
offensive of 1916.
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