July 1st-Sept 1916
The Battle of the Somme was planned as a joint French and British operation. The idea
originally
came from the French Commander-in-Chief, Joseph Joffre and was accepted by General Sir
Douglas Haig, the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) commander, despite his preference for a large
attack in Flanders. Although Joffre was concerned with territorial gain, it was also an attempt to
destroy German manpower.
At first Joffre intended for to use mainly French soldiers but the German attack on
Verdun in
February 1916 turned the Somme offensive into a large-scale British diversionary attack. General
Sir Douglas Haig now took over responsibility for the operation and with the help of General Sir
Henry Rawlinson, came up with his own plan of attack. Haig's strategy was for a eight-day
preliminary bombardment that he believed would completely destroy the German forward defences.
General Sir Henry Rawlinson was was in charge of the main attack and his Fourth Army
were
expected to advance towards Bapaume. To the north of Rawlinson, General Edmund Allenby and
the British Third Army were ordered to make a breakthrough with cavalry standing by to exploit the
gap that was expected to appear in the German front-line. Further south, General Fayolle was to
advance with the French Sixth Army towards Combles.
Haig used 750,000 men (27 divisions) against the German front-line (16 divisions).
However, the
bombardment failed to destroy either the barbed-wire or the concrete bunkers protecting the
German soldiers. This meant that the Germans were able to exploit their good defensive positions
on higher ground when the British and French troops attacked at 7.30 on the morning of the 1st
July. The BEF suffered 58,000 casualties (a third of them killed), therefore making it the worse day
in the history of the British Army.
Haig was not disheartened by these heavy losses on the first day and ordered General
Sir Henry
Rawlinson to continue making attacks on the German front- line. A night attack on 13th July did
achieve a temporary breakthrough but German reinforcements arrived in time to close the gap. Haig
believed that the Germans were close to the point of exhaustion and continued to order further
attacks expected each one to achieve the necessary breakthrough. Although small victories were
achieved, for example, the capture of Pozieres on 23rd July, these gains could not be successfully
followed up.
On 15th September General Alfred Micheler and the Tenth Army joined the battle in
the south at
Flers- Courcelette. Despite using tanks for the first time, Micheler's 12 divisions gained only a few
kilometres. Whenever the weather was appropriate, General Sir Douglas Haig ordered further
attacks on German positions at the Somme and on the 13th November the BEF captured the
fortress at Beaumont Hamel. However, heavy snow forced Haig to abandon his gains.
With the winter weather deteriorating Haig now brought an end to the Somme offensive.
Since the
1st July, the British has suffered 420,000 casualties. The French lost nearly 200,000 and it is
estimated that German casualties were in the region of 500,000. Allied forces gained some land
but it reached only 12km at its deepest points.