The Battle of the Somme in 1916 was the bloodiest battle of World War I. It produced 300,000 dead and one million casualties, with virtually no change in the battle lines. The Somme came hard on the heels of the second worst battle of the war, Verdun, and preceded the third worst, the Battle of Passchendaele. For people suffering through the current Trump-induced mess, it is a reminder that things could, after all, be worse.
The Somme battle began on July 1, 1916 and continued futilely until December of the same year, pitting British and French armies against the evil Huns (AKA, Germans). The attack on German lines was preceded by a three day artillery barrage, the greatest in history to that point, totaling 1.5 million shells.
High command assured the British soldiers that the barrage would make their job as easy as a stroll down the High Street. "You will be able to walk to Berlin. The Germans will all be dead."
Not quite. The barrage alerted the Germans that an attack was coming. They rushed up reserves. Most of them stayed safe in deep underground dugouts, ready to cut down the advancing British. And mow them down they did, with machine guns, rifles, artillery, and gas. Even a new British weapon used for the first time, the tank, did not help much. Most of them quickly broke down. No one knew how to use them anyway.
On the first day of the battle, a massive British attack across No Mans Land resulted in 20,000 dead and 40,000 wounded. It was the worst day in the history of the British Army.
In northern France, at Thiepval, there rests a ponderous monument to the 72,000 Allied dead whose bodies were never recovered, mainly because they were blown to bits or buried under soil thrown up by exploding shells. I like to think at least a few ran away and lived in some remote, sunny village in Southern Italy or Greece. (Image: Thiepval)
The politicians and generals who conceived and implemented the Somme battle were incompetent, myopic, and dishonest, but unlike the current leaders of Trumpistan, they were not cruel for the sake of cruelty.
Not quite. The barrage alerted the Germans that an attack was coming. They rushed up reserves. Most of them stayed safe in deep underground dugouts, ready to cut down the advancing British. And mow them down they did, with machine guns, rifles, artillery, and gas. Even a new British weapon used for the first time, the tank, did not help much. Most of them quickly broke down. No one knew how to use them anyway.
On the first day of the battle, a massive British attack across No Mans Land resulted in 20,000 dead and 40,000 wounded. It was the worst day in the history of the British Army.
In northern France, at Thiepval, there rests a ponderous monument to the 72,000 Allied dead whose bodies were never recovered, mainly because they were blown to bits or buried under soil thrown up by exploding shells. I like to think at least a few ran away and lived in some remote, sunny village in Southern Italy or Greece. (Image: Thiepval)
The politicians and generals who conceived and implemented the Somme battle were incompetent, myopic, and dishonest, but unlike the current leaders of Trumpistan, they were not cruel for the sake of cruelty.
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