| Battle Histories > Western Front > The Battles of the Somme 1916 |
| 1st July - 18th November 1916 |
| One of the most important campaigns in which the British Army has ever been engaged, the dogged fighting on the Somme has shaped modern memory of the First World War. |
| Why did the British Army attack on the Somme in 1916? >> See why, in detail |
| The offensive campaign of 1916 - initially conceived by the French Commander-in-Chief to be a war-winning simultaneous strike on three fronts by all Allies with maximum force - came down to a few Divisions of the British Army attacking on ground not of their choosing and where there was no possibility of strategic gain. |
| How was the initial plan of attack developed? >> See the plan, in detail |
| There was disagreement between Commander-in-Chief (Haig) and the Army commander who had to carry out the attack (Rawlinson), about how it should be done. Haig's plan was to capture ground, breaking past the first enemy line and into the second enemy line on the first day. All possibilities to exploit enemy disorganisation should be grasped from then on. Rawlinson was more cautious. The inexperienced army staffs applied rigid, inflexible, tactics as regards the way their infantry should conduct the attack. |
| The immense preparation for battle >> See the preparations, in detail |
| The area chosen for battle was a quiet agricultural area, not well furnished with railways and roads capable of supporting supply to 400,000 men. |
| Which British units took part? |
| It is perhaps easier to say which ones did not. For of the 56 British Divisions in France at the time, no fewer than 53 went through the Somme in 1916; of the remainder another one fought at Fromelles in a Somme-related diversion. |
| What happened? >> See what happened, day by day |
After a terribly costly opening of the British attack, the Allied offensive pushed on yard by yard through a hot summer and eventually halted as the mud of winter closed in. In strategic terms little ground had been taken, but the German army had been seriously damaged and the British learned many lessons that would be applied in 1917 and 1918.
>> See what happened, day by day >> Read Sir Douglas Haig's Despatch on the Somme
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| Casualties |
| According to the British official history of the battle, total Allied casualties amounted to almost 630,000 and German around 660,000. British casualties reported by the Adjutant General were 419,654 of whom some 5% were missing at roll call but may have subsequently reported. Staggering figures, especially when taken alongside those at Verdun where fighting between French and German continued throughout 1916. |
| War Diaries |
| This site features the daily war diaries of some of the units that took part in the Battle of the Somme 1916: |
| 168th Brigade RFA | 8th Northumberland Fusiliers| 18th West Yorkshire | 2nd Royal Irish Regiment |More |
| Who won? |
| It has been asserted by those of the "dunderhead generals / futile" school of thought that the Somme was conducted with little skill or imagination; that it went on too long; that it was a mere battle of attrition; that the Germans won by simply inflicting more casualties on the Allies than they suffered themselves; that it should not have taken place. Is this right? |
| The battlefields today >> Take a virtual tour of the 1916 Somme battlefields |
| Before and after the Somme |
 Operations
on the Ancre, 1917 |