The Somme is a river present in the northern region of France. The name illustrates the name of a river, as well as the tragedy of a war fought in the year of 1914 between Germany and the Allies. The name of Somme still now arouses a bunch of emotions even after near about a century for the group of people who were compelled to suffer directly or indirectly due to the devastating effect of the war. The battle of Somme is mostly known for its slaughtering of millions of lives. But the name of this battle is chiefly associated with the horrific slaughtering of a single day that is 1st July of 1916. Though Verdun is recognized for the martyr and bravery of the people of France, but the name of Somme illustrates the failure of the British battalion .
The Battle of the Somme is often remembered as one of the most ghastly battles in human history. This occurred during the stage of attrition of the World War-I, which is also known as War of Attrition. Germany entered Belgium by force on 3rd August, in the year of 1914. As soon as Germany entered Belgium, Britain affirmed war against Germany. The British Expeditionary Force or BEF moved towards France. During the initial two months the armies of both the countries fought with each other in a very merciless and barbaric manner. This phase is recognized as the ‘War of movement’. The defense force of Germany could cope to reach 30 miles within Paris. But ultimately they were overcome and crushed by Britain during the Battle of the Marne in the year of 1914 in September.
Within the last part of September, trenches were dug for the first time for the purpose of encroachment by the Germans for war. Within a very short time-span, i.e, within November in the same year the trenches were extended till English Channel starting from Switzerland. This was likened to a ‘Race to the Sea’. The corps of both Britain and Germany stopped proceeding .
The army of both Germany and Britain apprehended that several battles are waiting for them in immediate future and they needed to fight from the Western Front. As a consequence of the battle fought, a huge number of soldiers of the French team were dead. Along with that, the Second Battle of Ypres was also fought that took several lives. In this Ypres’s battle, the German’s were the first who used poison gas and initiated the war. They made a destructive attack at Verdun that took the lives of more than 315,000 French and 280,000 Germans .
General Joffre who escorted the French commanders appealed and compelled the command of Britain to progress the war further against Germany without considering the brutal effect it would have on the entire world. All through the combat of Verdun, an immense stress was put upon the French soldiers as a huge number of their soldiers died in war. Sir Douglas Haig, who was the British Commander at that time, gave consent to this joint venture of attacking Germany near Bapaume in the lines of Germany. As an outcome, the battle that was fought remained undying as the most significant battle fought ever in the world history. The battle was traumatizing and horrifying that slaughtered the humankind brutally. This is the notorious Battle of the Somme.
The creator of the master plan of the battle of the Somme was General Douglas Haig. He was chosen as the BEF’s Commander in Chief. It is unnecessary to say that being given such a huge responsibility in the Battle of the Somme, Haig was dedicated to take all the major roles. Haig was self-reliant that his plan was perfect and it would work tremendously bringing victory for the Allies. He made the strategy to get inside through the lines of Germany. But unfortunately the plan illustrated as a big mistake as it had only narrow objectives. Basically there were only three major parts of the strategy that were certainly important to get victory according to Haig.
The second line of strategy was to move the British force to these regions. The third line of plan was to make use of the beloved cavalry of Haig to accomplish an enormous attack through these points. General Gough was selected to command this operation. As per the plan, the cavalry moved northwards. Thereafter they attacked the still existing German points and forced them roll up from the direction of south. It must be mentioned here that all these were simply plans that were not full proof. All the plans were supposed to work perfectly if all the line of strategy worked perfectly and successfully and the former strategy of action was accomplished without being unsuccessful.
But, there was massive discrepancy with this plot of attack from the commander of the British mission named Sir Henry Rawlinson. Rawlinson was sent as assistance to support Antwerp from the attack by the battalion of Germany. He was the Fourth Army commander. He also took a significant part during the Battle of the Somme. Rawlinson did not support Haig’s strategy of a horse regiment created line of attack. He wished further slow methodology. He wanted to capture trench of the German battalion one at a time and halt there. He wanted to proceed further after their group was sure that the trench was fully seized.
Both Haig and especially Rawlinson had extensive uncertainties regarding the expert services of the militaries of their newly formed force. They doubted because the New Army was not tried and tested in any major battle ground fighting any major battle. They were also doubtful regarding the bravery and stamina of the soldiers. Hence, Haig and Rawlinson felt that a plan should be made that is easy to accomplish for the newly trained soldiers and the volunteer soldiers. As a result, they tried to formulate the tactic with a vast weaponry barrage, so that as soon as the soldiers are on the top, they would simply require strolling crossways the ‘no-man’s land’. It was predicted that this will help to conquer the opponent positions easily and successfully .
The tactics followed by General Haig in this war are disputed even today also. However, apparent planning for the attack and the shower of bombs for as long as a week warned the Germans clearly. The trenches of the German soldiers were profoundly prepared with all the necessary stuffs required for combat. Many shells used by the British soldiers failed to blast. The Germans could also protect themselves by moving underground and waiting there. On 1st July, at about 7.30am the strong blowing of whistles signaled the beginning of the hit. After the whistles blew, the Germans took their combat positions by leaving the bunkers .
The British soldiers, comprising of nearly 11 divisions walked on the way to the lines of Germany. As soon as they started their march, the rain of bullets started pouring upon them. Even though some could cope to get inside the German trenches to attack the Germans, yet they were driven back brutally without getting an opportunity to make use of their bullets. At the day ending, approximately 60,000 casualties were found from the British defense group among which 20,000 died already. It was the biggest distinct loss in a day itself. Near about sixty percent officials died on day one itself, who had taken part in the combat .
It was an introduction of bullet rain for the new volunteers of the Britain's army. The ‘Pals’ from the same city joined the battalion to serve Britain. But they all experienced enormous shattering losses. In some case the entire unit was dead by a single fire or they all died within few weeks following the first attack . The local newspaper of those days used to get filled up more or less completely with the names of the persons who were missing, wounded or even died during the combat. Though the advancement of the French army was considered as successful as they had to face weaker resistance and had additional guns, yet they were not capable to take advantage of their benefits without proper backup from the British army and hence they had to retreat to previous points.
Being a failure to a significant extent, Haig became more aggressive and decided to take more restricted advancements and gave concentration on the sectors of the southern regions. The British team under the instructions of Haig took the position for combat against the Germans on 14th July. But during this time also they failed to follow. For the next two consecutive months it was a blood-spattered stalemate with the Allies regaining small positions. 15th of September was the first time when Haig introduced the hateful, use of tanks in the War. Nevertheless, carrying light weapons that too little in number and also showed frequent mechanical collapse, they were unable to create any impact .
Though tanks were introduce for the first time to get an added advantage, yet the use of tanks did not play any fruitful role initially. Communication between two tanks also became too difficult. Because radios were not equipped inside the tanks, it was not possible for the Unit Commanders to convey messages, instructions or any instant plan of action. This proved to be fatal as they could convey messages only by challenging their own life by reaching the point using their vehicle which was provided for personal use during the war time. Sometimes the Unit Commanders needed to move by foot. These situations took several lives also .
Even though a small number of triumphs were accomplished, for example, on 23rd of July the team under Haig seizure Pozieres, yet these victories was not fruitful as they were not followed up successfully. Most of the armaments of the army of Britain demonstrated as ‘useless’ as they were constructed imperfectly and hopelessly. Many fires did not reach the destination of the enemy camp; even in the present day Western Front farmers discover several tons of 'iron yields’ every year that remained intact being unexploded.
Many groups were injured or killed at the very instant when they marched out from their trenches towards the border outlines in ‘No Man's Land’. Many soldiers marched little by little headed for the border lines of Germany. They were overloaded with equipments and expecting slight or may be no resistance. But unfortunately they became disbelievingly straightforward objects to fire for the army man who were firing the machine guns .
The corpses of some soldiers were not even recognizable as they were damaged or mutilated badly. They missed the ‘dog tag’; all the bodies were buried in a cemetery amid a directive gravestone. Only the soldier’s uniform remained intact enough to prove that he belonged to the Lance Corporal or the DLI . All the injuries did not occur in the battlefields. It is also discovered that the soldiers, specially the volunteers who were introduced to the rain of bullets for the first time, were so much upset with the devastating effect of the war, that they lost hope of life. Many of them even attempted self destruction.
The battle field became too pathetic to observe. According to some author, the sights were excessively horrifying to pen down. They observed the wounded and dead soldiers lying on the ground alongside. Several sufferers were screaming out of pain. The near and dear ones of the victims were moaning, and some relatives lost their emotions for crying and shouting due to excessive shock after losing the close ones.
The entire view of the battle ground was very frightening. The armaments were dreadful. The flies were running nastily. The situation of the soldiers who survived was worse. It was basically continuous dense bombardment that created such a mishap in the battlefield during the battle of the Somme . In all, about 432,000 soldiers passed away in France from the British territory groups within a period of 1914 till 1918. An additional 350,000 soldiers passed away in Belgium. A greater part of the soldiers slaughtered were nowhere to be found in the sludge and as a consequence their fate was never known. The names of these dead soldiers are decorated on Thiépval Memorial .
On the other hand, the incoming and outgoing tide of the combat is recognized and honored till today by the numerous CWGC burial grounds spread all over the country. Some are gigantic with several graves focused on the people who were destroyed a radius around or a mile around. Others are small, including a minor assembly of youthful men who survived together and also expired together and ultimately got masked where they fell down . The combat did, yet, accomplish its intention. The soldiers of the France battalion were continuously smashed at Verdun. As a result, the British force showed the aggression of attacking the Somme. This forced to reroute resources by the Germans and also redirect soldiers from Verdun proceeding to join the group for defense. The Somme shredded the German soldiers’ heart out, and without this change, the result of this devastating war would have been different. The French may have been crushed and they would have been lost the war .
Bucketing rains in October converted the theatre of war into a mud-spattered sticky situation. As a result the battle slowly ended during the middle of November. At that time, the Allies proceeded only about 8kms. The Germans saw about 650,000 fatalities; the British experienced approximately 420,000 sufferers and the French underwent roughly 195,000 casualties .
The Battle of the Somme is famous chiefly on account of the loss of 58,000 British troops. on the first day of the battle, 1 July 1916, which to this day remains a one-day record . On 18th November, the Allies ultimately sputtered out their sluggish, hurting steps forward. The rain stopped. But it was replaced more horribly by snow. This created a situation that made the environment unbearable for the worn out men. Since July the line of French and British proceeded by about 12 kilometers.
Somehow the Battle of the Somme came to an end. The cost of human lives that the battle took away from both the forces was shocking. The army of the German group was harshly injured; the Somme became as 'the muddy grave of the German field army'. After the British advanced their strategies for the entire upcoming sequence of the battle, roughly even after a century, views remain controversial about the lines of attack that helped the Allies to win the battle of the Somme. The strategies taken by Sir Douglas Haig during the battle of the Somme created huge controversies during the war itself and even today also. The strategies will create controversy in the upcoming days also. Some critics disputed that the several uncompromising attitude only repeated faulty policies. Other critics dispute that the hand and power of Haig only felt the necessity of the Somme attack just to discharge the French .
The battle of the Somme was unquestionably a dreadful and shocking disaster. It is beyond belief that the Generals did nothing after they were informed that the initial bombing was unsuccessful. If the Generals would have taken the right steps to stop the battle, then many guiltless lives of common people would have been protected. Many young ladies lost their husband before they could feel the essence of marriage properly. Many parents had to see the death of their sons which is the most pathetic sight for any parent. Despite the high count of human lives lost, the battle failed to kill the spirit of the Germans or the Italians, which is why the war itself raged on for over a year after Somme ended. Instead, it may have acted towards strengthening the resolve of the people of these country for their regimes to seek vengeance for all the lives lost. It is possibly for this reason that the Italian people voted to retain a monarchy that was openly in allegiance with the fascists . Although there were those who survived the battle, yet, they were not in a condition to live a normal life. They were mostly ruined physically and mentally to have a normal life in the future. These were some of the most dire and immediate aftermaths of the battle.
Bibliography
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