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Taking of Fort Douaumont
Fort Douaumont was considered to be one of the most fortified forts in the world but during the Batte of Verdun. There was only a 57 man team inside and the fort was easily capture. The capture of the fort lowered moral for the French and this would lead to the Somme offensive being planned. Modern photo of Fort Douaumont -
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Lead up to the Battle of Somme
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French pushed back at Verdun
For months before the Battle of Somme French troops had suffered thousands of casualties and these losses led up to one of the most horrific battles in WWI with little gain. -
Somme offensive planning
The British saw the French were taking heavy losses in Verdun and began planning an offensive to relieve the pressure off the French. The plan was to attack south of Verdun to make the Germans have to dispatch a park of their army to deal with the British which would let the French regroup. The British and French commanders believed that the plan would not work but still went ahead with the offensive. Map of the Somme offensive -
Allies begin shelling
Around one week before the first Somme offensive the Allies begin shelling the German front line. In this week aproximately 1.7 million shells were fired. The Germans had very large dug out bunkers where they held their troops during the shelling. Artillery shell landing -
Battle of Somme begins
After the long shelling the Allies thought the Germans were dead and ordered their soldiers to walk into the battlefield. The Germans ascend from their bunkers and set up machine guns. The Allied are mowed down by the Germans. The first day of the battle was the worst day with over 18,800 soldiers dead. Machine Gunners with newly invented gas masks -
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Battle of Somme
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Battle of Pozieres Ridge
British troops storm fortifications along Pozieres Ridge for five weeks. However, the Germans launched a counter offensive and took back the lost ground. The battle was gained nothing for the British. Pozieres battlefield -
Dogfights over Pozieres Ridge
During the Battle of Pozieres Ridge many air battle between the British, French and Germans. The British mainly had air superiority because they could mobilise their planes much easier than the Germans. -
Australians fight around Pozieres
Australians suffer heavy losses between Pozieres and Moquet Farm. Australians tried to push forward the front line but were unsuccesseful. The large losses led to a referendum being held in Australia to legalise conscription but the referendum was turned down. Australian troops marching through a town -
First en masse of tanks
During September of 1916 tanks were first introduced into the Battle of Somme. The tanks could break through the front lines knocking down barbed wire and knocking down trees. Many German soldiers would flee or surrender after seeing these beasts rolling through the battlefield. The tanks would be mostly bulletproof and the gunners inside could fire at the Germans -
Tanks push through Courcollette
The use of 24 tanks at Courcollete made the Germans flee or surrender and the Canadians and the British pushed 2 miles forward on a 6 mile stretch. The tanks proved to be very effective. The photo is of a British WWI tank -
Tanks become useless in the Battle of Somme
During the winter months of the war there was a large amount of rain falling over the battlefields. Due to this large amount of rain the battlefield was very soft and muddy. Tanks would often dig in and become immobile. Tanks would also break down and without any forward momentum the large and heavy tank would being to sink into the mud. The use of tanks was slowly becoming pointless and unrealiable as the winter went on. Photo left: Muddy battlefield -
Battle of Somme concludes
After many monts of battles the fields were extremely muddy and with winter near it's peak it was practically impossible to fight anymore and on the 11th of Novemeber the battle came to a short and quick end. A soldier carrying a fallen friend -
Casualty Deaths
Over 3,000,000 million men lost their lives in the battle
British and French lost 675,000 men
Germans lost 700,000 men
The Allies took 80,000 prisoners in the battle
The battle lost millions of men for little ground and no point
