The Battle Of The Somme

The battle of the Somme is considered to be the most famous battle of World War One. On July 1st, 1916 the allies started planning their way to bombard the German front lines. The attack was preceded by an eight preliminary bombardment on the German front lines starting Saturday the 24th of June, 1916. The countries that took place in this battle were: Canada, France, Germany, and Britain. The Canadian troops were considered part of the British army. After the first day of battle there were over 58,000 British casualties, one third of the British army. On September 15, 1916 the first tanks developed by the British (mark 1`s) were deployed along with 15 divisions of troops which gained under a kilometre of ground. There were 24 to 50 tanks that participated in the battle. These tanks were highly unreliable and would get stuck easily. The battle took 4 and 1/2 months between July 1st and November 18th in the year 1916. The battle was fought by the aim of the British Commander in Chief Joffre, to drain the German forces of reserves. At the end of the battle snow brought a halt to the Somme offensive (the British) on the 18th of November, 1916. This resulted in 420,000 British casualties, 200,000 French casualties, and 500,000 German casualties.

Battle of Somme Video