Battle of the Somme

• The British decided to launch a massive attack on the Germans at the River Somme to relieve the terrible pressure on the French at Verdun.
• The plan for the Somme attack involved bombing the Germans with artillery for 7 days and 7 nights, using spotter planes to accurately target attacks, and shelling to destroy the German barbed wire and trenches.
• With German trenches and machine posts destroyed, the British could walk across No Man’s Land and capture the trenches.
• Bad weather stopped the planes giving detailed information about the German trenches.
• Many shells were duds.
• German dugouts in their trenches were quite solid and kept many soldiers protected.
• German weapons were not destroyed.
• By the end of the first day of the Somme battle, 20000 British soldiers had been killed and 40000 injured.
• Fighting at the Somme continued for 5 months.
• In total, 1 million men were killed from all sides in the Somme battle.
• The Somme battle ended all enthusiasm for war.
• Many blamed the leader of the British Army, Douglas Haig, for the losses at the Somme.
• Some historians called Douglas Haig the ‘Butcher of the Somme’.
• Other historians defend Douglas Haig and say he did a good job.
• Tanks were used for the first time by the British during the Somme battle and they learnt important lessons about trench warfare.
• Some historians suggest that the losses at the Somme were necessary to learn these lessons and allowed Britain to work out how to win the war.