Introduction
The Battle of the Somme took place during the First World War on either side of the river Somme in France. This battle started on July 1, 1916 and ended on November 18, 1916. Battle of the Somme saw the British Expeditionary Force and the French Army join and attack the Germans.
On June 24, 1916, British General Douglas Haig ordered a massive bombardment of the German lines that would last a week and could be heard across the Channel in England, but the bombardment failed to destroy either the German front line barbed wire or the heavily-built concrete bunkers the Germans had constructed. Once the shelling was over, of the 100,000 British attacked the German lines July 1, 1916, and 20,000 were killed and over 40,000 were wounded. It was the single worst day in deaths and casualties in British military history. The battle went on until November 18,1916, but it did not change the front line trenches much at all. The Battle of the Somme involved over 2 million soldiers along a 30 mile front.
On June 24, 1916, British General Douglas Haig ordered a massive bombardment of the German lines that would last a week and could be heard across the Channel in England, but the bombardment failed to destroy either the German front line barbed wire or the heavily-built concrete bunkers the Germans had constructed. Once the shelling was over, of the 100,000 British attacked the German lines July 1, 1916, and 20,000 were killed and over 40,000 were wounded. It was the single worst day in deaths and casualties in British military history. The battle went on until November 18,1916, but it did not change the front line trenches much at all. The Battle of the Somme involved over 2 million soldiers along a 30 mile front.