THE BATTLE OF THE SOMME:  1ST JULY TO 18TH NOVEMBER 1916   

BATTLES ON THE SOMME AND THE FIRST USE OF TANKS

Acknowledgements

Map:Western Front: (detail) British Official History, longlongtrail.com Map: The Somme: oakwoodacademy.org.uk Painting: by South African artist Jason Askew, military-art.com Allied Gains: therooms.ca/somme-offensive Battle Map: pixnet.co.uk Tank: wikimedia Douglas Haig: by Irish artist William Orpen Book Cover: goodreads.com detail of work by Alan Clark Legion: firstclasswatches.co.uk Memorial: by German sculptor Charles Gern fr.wikipedia.org Title: (detail) fanatical.com

    The famous Battle of the Somme – remembered today for the enormous losses suffered by both sides – had two major objectives as far as the Allies were concerned. Firstly, it was to be the “Big Push”, planned to bring an end to the eighteen months of trench deadlock, and timed to coincide with Allied attacks on both the Russian and Italian fronts. Secondly, it was aimed to relieve the pressure on the French army which, as we have seen, was in a ferocious struggle at Verdun, further south. If they were to hold that line, then the German attack needed to be reduced in size and depth.

     At an Allied planning conference held at Chantilly in December 1915, it was agreed on a combined campaign in the area of the River Somme. The British 4th Army was to push through the centre, while the 3rd Army in the north and the French 6th Army in the south made diversionary attacks. Then the Reserve Army could thrust through the gap made in the centre and break into the open fields beyond. (A cavalry regiment was to be put on standby to “run down the fleeing enemy”!)

    After days of close aerial reconnaissance, the battle opened with a seven-day bombardment. The British commander Sir Douglas Haig – who firmly believed that his plans had been drawn up with divine assistance – was confident that a bombardment of this length, plus the introduction of a “creeping barrage” as the infantry advanced, would totally destroy the German strongholds and give ample space for the “big push”. But it was not to be. It is estimated that the artillery launched over 1.5 million shells, but many, it was later discovered, were defective (put at 30% by one source), and the majority were shrapnel shells, deadly against a mass infantry assault, but almost totally ineffective against deep trenches and concrete dugouts. And when the infantry eventually went “over the top” – some 100,000 in number and signalled by the famous blowing up of Hawthorne Ridge – the creeping barrage, a demanding operation at the best of times, was out of phase. This allowed the Germans to come out of cover, man the machine guns and artillery, and literally mow down or blow up the advancing British infantry.

    ThexBritish casualties on that one day alone – 57,470, including 19,240 dead – were the worst suffered in the history of the British Army. Many were inexperienced soldiers, part of the “New Armies” formed in 1915, and a large number were from what was known as “Pals Battalions”. These encouraged young men from a certain village or town to join up together with their friends, family members or workmates. This proved a popular move, but it also meant that when there were heavy casualties many communities in the United Kingdom suffered a serious loss of their young men. And it is recorded that of the 680 men of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment of Canada only 68 escaped death or injury.

     The British Fourth Army pushed the Germans back at the opening battle, north-east of the town of Albert (see map above), but it was there, on the Albert-Bapaume Road, that it suffered the bulk of its heavy losses. The French Sixth Army played a less prominent part in the battle, but it made a sizeable thrust into enemy lines, reaching close to Peronne by the 10th July. It paid dearly for so doing, and the Germans, due to their constant counter attacks, also paid a heavy price. One German officer saw the Somme as “the muddy grave” of the German Field Army, and some argued that the German Army was never seen again as “a dedicated and efficient body of men.”

     With no decisive outcome from the opening attack – save a real footing in the area near Fricourt and Montauban – the Somme campaign degenerated into a bloody stalemate and the return to a war of attrition. There were a series of sorties against individual targets, and both sides gained or lost ground, but heavy rain in October seriously hampered movement, and with the coming of winter in November, Haig shut down the offensive. Over a period of four and a half months, the Allies had advanced some eight miles (see map). The final cost in manpower was put at British Empire: 419,654 (108,700 killed); France: 204,253 (50,000 killed) and Germany: 500,000 (160,000 killed).

BATTLESxOF THE SOMME

First Phase 1-20 July

Albert 1-13 July

British suffer the greatest loses in their military history.

Bazentin Ridge 14-17 July

Successful British attack, but unable to take advantage.

Fromelles 19-20 July (diversionary attack in Flanders).

Attack by Australians fails to pierce German defences.

Second Phase July-September

Deville Wood 14 July-15 September

British capture the wood after weeks of bitter fighting.

Pozières 23 July-7 August

Australians capture the village but with heavy loses

Guillemont 3-6 September

Captured by British and advance made towards Ginchy.

Ginchy 9 September

British capture the village and surrounding high ground.

Third Phase September-November

Flers-Courcelette 15-22 September

First use of tanks. Ineffective, but village is taken.

Morval 25-28 September

British capture village, plus Combles and Lesboeufs.

Transloy Ridge 1 October-11 November

British make some gains, but winter slows the advance.

Beaumont Hamel July-Nov + River Ancre 13-18 Nov

British make ground despite difficult weather conditions.

    Inxretrospect, the most notable importance of the Battle of the Somme as far as combat was concerned, was the introduction of two new battle tactics – the use of the creeping barrage and the first appearance of the tank. Both failed their debut. The creeping barrage, whereby a bombardment is co-coordinated with the advance of the infantry – thereby giving the foot soldier artillery support immediately in front of him – was ill-timed and left the ground forces at the mercy of the machine gun and artillery fire. Thextank, first employed in mid-September during the attack on Flers-Courcelette, came as a surprise to the Germans but, in fact, made little impact. It had a crew of eight, a maximum speed of 4 mph, and mounted a ‘6 pounder’ cannon and a machine gun on both sides. Of the 49 brought to the battle, only 32 took part in the attack, and – still mechanically unreliable – only nine made it across no-man’s land. And how this new weapon was to be best employed had yet to be determined. In some military quarters the tank was dismissed out of hand, but there were those – and Haig was among them – who wanted to improve its performance and see it used in larger numbers. As we shall see, the first real test of its contribution to the battlefield was to come at the Battle of Cambrai in November 1917. There, a mass attack was to show the effectiveness and the potential of this “landship”.

     Incidentally, in 1482 the famous Italian genius Leonardo da Vinci – engineering being one of his many talents – wrote to the Duke of Milan: “I can produce unassailable, covered chariots which will enter the enemy line with their artillery and will break through any troop formations, whatever numbers they maybe. The infantry will be able to follow without loses or obstacles.”

    The Royal Flying Corps played a major part in the Battle of the Somme. It dropped 292 tons of bombs and, via reconnaissance missions, produced no less than 19,000 photographs before and during this long and bloody encounter! These roles were greatly assisted by the performance of the British fighter, the Airco DH2, a single seater biplane that, as noted earlier, proved more than a match for the German Fokker. By commanding the air for much of the time, close tactical support could be given to the ground forces. But, as one would expect, losses were heavy, put at 782 aircraft and 586 aircrew.

     ThexBattle of the Somme – synonymous with bloody, futile slaughter – understandably aroused a great deal of public misgiving and anger. General Sir Douglas Haig came in for some serious criticism. The argument that the battle taught the Army a lesson in warfare, and made it a more professional and effective fighting force, cut little ice, though there was clearly some truth in it. What was certain is that it fulfilled one of its major aims: the vital need to reduce the pressure on the French forces at the battle of Verdun. It is known that four German divisions plus equipment were moved from Verdun to combat the Somme Campaign, and, as a consequence, it was claimed, French attacks during the last three months of the year quickly regained much of the ground lost at Verdun. As a result, the German high command felt it necessary to make staff changes and contemplate a realignment of the frontier. General Erich von Falkenhayn (having failed to take Verdun), was replaced by General Paul von Hindenburg and, as we shall see, in April 1917, the “Hindenburg Line” was established. It conceded territory, quite a considerable amount, in order to shorten the area to be defended, thereby reducing the mounting pressure on the German army, both its men and material.

    Haigx(1861-1928) joinedxthe army in 1884, and saw active service as a cavalryman in the Sudan and South Africa. He rose swiftly through the ranks and, after serving as a corps commander in the opening battles of the war (Mons, Marne and Aisne), was put in charge of the British Expeditionary Force (B.E.F) in December 1915. In this capacity, he masterminded a series of powerful offensives, and it was due to the losses suffered in these events – notably the Battle of the Somme and the Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele) in 1917 – that made him a controversial figure. In some quarters – and understandably so – he became known as “Butcher Haig”, accused, as a former cavalryman, of not having come to terms with the nature of war on the Western Front. Andxit was around this time that the phrase “Donkeys leading Lions” made the rounds. But, this said, others admired his sense of duty, and his determination to keep the Germans in a long and costly battle of attrition in order to take the pressure off the attack upon Verdun, his prime aim. And, unlike a number of his contemporaries, he did appreciate the potential of aircraft and tanks, and the need to improve ground tactics in overcoming the static nature of trench warfare. After his valuablexcontribution in the Hundred Days Offensive of 1918 (August to November), which virtually brought an end to the war, he served as commander-in-chief of British Home Forces until his retirement in 1921. He then spent a number of years, at home and overseas, helping in the formation of the British Legion. Organised to support former servicemen, his concern for their welfare served to improve his image in the eyes of the public.

     Incidentally, as was his custom on many a subject, Winston Churchill found a few fitting words to sum up the career of Douglas Haig. He wrote: “Though there are some who would question Haig’s right to rank with Wellington in British military annals, there are none who will deny that his character and conduct as a soldier still long serves as an example to us all.” ……

    …… A film based on the Battle of the Somme was produced by the British cameramen Geoffrey Malins and John McDowell in August 1916. Giving quite a candid image of conditions endured on the Western Front, it proved highly popular, and was seen by nearly 20 million people in the United Kingdom within six weeks of its release. ……

     …… This moving monument to the war dead of Beamont-Hamel was the work of the German sculptor Charles Gern.

     …… The English poetxWilliam Noel Hodgson wrote poems and stories under the pen-name of Edward Melbourne. He fought on the Western Front from July 1915, and was killed on the first day of the Battle of the Somme, just two days after the publication of his poem Before Action. It is felt by some that he wrote it on having a premonition of his own death. The last verse reads:

    Despite its tarnished reputation, the Battle of the Somme, together with the Battle of Naroch in March and the Brusilov Offensive in June, clearly played a major part in reducing the effectiveness of the German offensive against Verdun, begun early in the year. Troops and armaments had to be transferred to these battle zones, enabling the French to stem the powerful German advance and then go on the offensive in October. As we shall see, by the end of the year they had regained much of the land they had lost, putting an end to the immediate threat to this historic region. By then the Germans had turned their attention elsewhere, but not before the Central Powers – by way of compensation – had offered to open up peace negotiations with the Entente …… strictly under their own terms. The Allied reply was predictable. Sadly for all, the war still had two years to run.

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I, that on my familiar hill

Saw with uncomprehending eyes

A hundred of thy sunsets spill

Their fresh and sanguine sacrifice,

Ere the sun swings his noonday sword

Must say good-bye to all of this; –

By all delights that I shall miss,

Help me to die, O Lord.