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Visit the old Somme battlefields and walk the ground your forefathers fought in during the Great War. We at Somme Battle Tours will help you trace the steps of a lost generation. Perhaps you wish to visit a lost relatives grave or maybe its just a general interest you have in the Battle of the Somme, whatever you reason we will guide you on a memorable journey.
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.
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.
A Brief history of the battle
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.
General Sir Henry Rawlinson 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 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.
Spartacus Educational
Somme Battle Tours
92 years on and the scars of battle are still in evidence. From the remains of trenches,
shell holes and rusty old pickets to the memorials to the fallen, and the hundreds of
white headstones in a foreign field that mark the final resting place of a lost youth.
Conducted Tours of The Somme Battlefields
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