Battle+of+the+Somme

Battle of the Somme By: Alexis

** Notes on Battle of the Somme! ** Resources-
 * 1) The Battle of the Somme was famous for the vast loss of 58,000 troops on the first day of battle. (One third of all men!)
 * 2) Battle was planned in 1915 as a joint French and British operation.
 * 3) The first day of battle, July 1, 1916, remains a one day record for the huge amount of troops lost to this day.
 * 4) The battle lasted until November of 1916.
 * 5) The attack was launched on a 30 kilometer front, from north of the Somme river between Arras and Albert.
 * 6) Along the Albert River is the city of Verdun which is east of Paris.
 * 7) The Battle of the Somme started with a weeklong artillery bombardment.
 * 8) Many of the men in the battle were volunteers as a part of “Kitchener’s Volunteer Army”.
 * 9) They were persuaded by posters and flyers summoning them to help and show their patriotism.
 * 10) For many months, the French men killed were killed in Verdun.
 * 11) To relieve the French, the Allied High Command decided to attack the Germans to the north of Verdun.
 * 12) This would require the Germans to move some of their men away from the Verdun battlefield, relieving the French.
 * 13) By the end of the battle, the British had suffered a total of 420,000 casualties. (60,000 of them were on the first day alone).
 * 14) There were 200,000 French casualties.
 * 15) German casualties were estimated to run at around 500,000.
 * 16) The Germans had 1,738,000 shells fired at them.
 * 17) After this, it was determined that a creeping barrage, large guns like machine guns and cannons, would precede the advancing infantry to the German front line and then to the second and third trench lines.
 * 18) British and French gained 12 kilometers of ground by the end of the battle.
 * 19) Sir Douglas Haig's conduct of the battle, stubborn repeating of tactics, caused great controversy.
 * 20) Despite the slow but progressive advance of the British, poor weather ended the Somme offensive on November 18.
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