1 00:00:11,420 --> 00:00:21,810 1916. Europe is in the grips of the most destructive conflict yet known: World War One. 2 00:00:21,810 --> 00:00:27,390 Much of the fiercest fighting take place on the Western Front, where British, French and 3 00:00:27,390 --> 00:00:34,410 German armies are locked in a bloody stalemate along 450 miles of trenches. 4 00:00:34,410 --> 00:00:41,260 There have been millions of casualties, but neither side can break the deadlock. 5 00:00:41,260 --> 00:00:47,280 The combination of barbed wire, machineguns and heavy artillery means troops trying to cross 6 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:54,840 No Man's Land, the open ground between the trenches, are slaughtered en masse. 7 00:00:54,880 --> 00:00:57,739 The advantage is always with the defender. 8 00:00:58,820 --> 00:01:04,620 But the Allies are committed to more attacks. They're determined to liberate the parts of 9 00:01:04,629 --> 00:01:11,950 France and Belgium that were occupied by Germany in the first months of the war. 10 00:01:11,950 --> 00:01:18,799 The British and French have agreed to launch a joint offensive in the summer of 1916. 11 00:01:18,799 --> 00:01:24,880 But the Germans strike first. In February, they launch a massive assault on the French 12 00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:33,049 fortress-city of Verdun. Its defence requires all available French reserves. 13 00:01:33,049 --> 00:01:38,350 So the summer offensive will be led by the British, their biggest attack of the war so far - 14 00:01:38,350 --> 00:01:47,790 its chief aim now, to relieve pressure on the French at Verdun. 15 00:01:55,210 --> 00:02:03,100 The attack will take place along a 25 mile front near the River Somme, in July. 16 00:02:03,100 --> 00:02:09,300 The new British commander, General Sir Douglas Haig, would prefer to attack near Ypres, 17 00:02:09,300 --> 00:02:14,200 where there are clearer strategic objectives, but the Somme is where the British and French 18 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:21,840 armies meet, so where a joint offensive must take place. He would also prefer to wait until 19 00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:28,960 his inexperienced divisions have received more training... but the French need his help now. 20 00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:40,720 The Somme has so far been a quiet sector, allowing the Germans to build up strong defensive positions. 21 00:02:41,019 --> 00:02:49,610 Here the Germans have two formidable, defensive lines... with a third under construction. 22 00:02:49,610 --> 00:02:57,640 Each consists of three lines of trenches: fire; support; and reserve; connected by communication 23 00:02:57,640 --> 00:03:04,769 trenches. They bristle with machinegun positions; and are anchored on fortified villages and 24 00:03:04,769 --> 00:03:11,000 strongpoints. In front of the trenches, there are thick belts of barbed wire. 25 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:19,760 Below, are dugouts, some 10 metres deep, to shelter German troops from artillery fire. 26 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:25,180 Telephone lines, buried six feet deep, allow troops at the front to communicate with artillery 27 00:03:25,180 --> 00:03:28,659 batteries during an attack. 28 00:03:28,659 --> 00:03:35,079 The German troops that hold the line are well-trained, and most are combat veterans. 29 00:03:35,079 --> 00:03:44,579 'They know we're coming all right!' 30 00:03:44,579 --> 00:03:49,799 The offensive will be led by the British Fourth Army, commanded by Lieutenant General Sir 31 00:03:49,799 --> 00:03:56,890 Henry Rawlinson. With Haig, he draws up the plan of attack. 32 00:03:56,890 --> 00:04:02,760 To overcome the Germans' formidable defences, the British will carry out a massive, week-long 33 00:04:02,760 --> 00:04:09,849 artillery bombardment with fourteen hundred guns. This is expected to destroy German barbed 34 00:04:09,849 --> 00:04:15,140 wire, flatten trenches, and kill their occupants. 35 00:04:15,140 --> 00:04:24,050 19 mines are also dug under key German strongpoints, and filled with explosive, ready to detonate 36 00:04:24,050 --> 00:04:29,190 just before the attack begins. 37 00:04:29,190 --> 00:04:36,310 To the north, British Third Army will make a diversionary attack at Gommecourt. 38 00:04:36,310 --> 00:04:41,700 The 16 British and French infantry divisions are then expected to take their objectives 39 00:04:41,700 --> 00:04:45,140 with minimal opposition. 40 00:04:45,140 --> 00:04:51,630 The attack will begin at 7.30am, in broad daylight, so the artillery can observe its 41 00:04:51,630 --> 00:04:54,100 fire. 42 00:04:54,100 --> 00:05:00,570 British morale is high, and the men are confident of victory. Many of the units taking part 43 00:05:00,570 --> 00:05:08,860 are Pals Battalions, the eager recruits of 1914, now about to face combat for the first 44 00:05:08,860 --> 00:05:10,370 time. 45 00:05:10,370 --> 00:05:15,750 But on the eve of the assault, there are worrying reports that the British bombardment has been 46 00:05:15,750 --> 00:05:18,520 only partially successful. 47 00:05:18,520 --> 00:05:27,540 1.6 million shells are fired, but due to inexperienced gun crews, a shortage of heavy guns, and faulty 48 00:05:27,540 --> 00:05:33,360 shells, much of the German barbed wire remains intact. 49 00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:39,350 German defenders, too, are largely unscathed in their deep dugouts. 50 00:05:39,350 --> 00:05:45,500 And from captured prisoners, and listening in on uncoded telephone calls, the Germans 51 00:05:45,500 --> 00:05:57,280 know exactly when and where the British are coming. 52 00:05:57,280 --> 00:06:03,310 The Allied artillery bombardment reaches its peak at 7am. 53 00:06:03,310 --> 00:06:09,930 At 7.20, the British detonate an enormous mine under a German strongpoint, the Hawthorn 54 00:06:09,930 --> 00:06:16,990 Redoubt, and British troops rush forward to occupy the crater. 55 00:06:16,990 --> 00:06:23,970 At 7.28, further mines are detonated under German strongpoints along the front. 56 00:06:23,970 --> 00:06:30,600 At 7.30, the Allied bombardment moves on to the German second line, as British and French 57 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:38,220 infantry begin their advance across No Man's Land. German troops, meanwhile, race up from 58 00:06:38,220 --> 00:06:43,880 their dugouts to set up machineguns. 59 00:06:43,880 --> 00:06:48,870 It's an enduring myth that all the British infantry climb out of their trenches, and 60 00:06:48,870 --> 00:06:56,060 walk steadily towards the German line. A few units do, but most send men out into No Man's 61 00:06:56,060 --> 00:07:02,060 Land before the bombardment lifts, so the final dash toward the enemy line is as short 62 00:07:02,060 --> 00:07:04,910 as possible. 63 00:07:04,910 --> 00:07:10,160 In the northern sector, whichever tactics are used, the British are easy targets for 64 00:07:10,160 --> 00:07:15,630 German machine-gunners, especially where they bunch up to get through the few gaps in the 65 00:07:15,630 --> 00:07:18,520 barbed wire. 66 00:07:18,520 --> 00:07:27,190 The British infantry advance bravely, but are mown down in their hundreds. 67 00:07:27,190 --> 00:07:33,670 Some units do break into the German line – near Thiepval, the 36th Ulster Division captures 68 00:07:33,670 --> 00:07:41,060 the Schwaben Redoubt, but without support on either flank, it's isolated, and the survivors 69 00:07:41,060 --> 00:07:48,300 are forced to retreat that night. On their right, the 32nd Division takes the Leipzig 70 00:07:48,300 --> 00:07:57,110 Redoubt. While near La Boiselle, the 34th Division captures the Lochnagar mine-crater. 71 00:07:57,110 --> 00:08:14,030 But these are just small toeholds in the German line, far short of their objectives. 72 00:08:14,030 --> 00:08:20,100 In World War One, one of the greatest challenges faced by commanders is getting accurate information 73 00:08:20,100 --> 00:08:27,630 about the course of the battle. Reliable field radios haven't been invented yet. Telephone 74 00:08:27,630 --> 00:08:38,890 lines are regularly cut by shellfire. So officers must turn to messengers; flag-signals; light-signals; 75 00:08:38,890 --> 00:08:45,500 even homing pigeons - none of which is completely reliable. 76 00:08:45,500 --> 00:08:52,029 To get around this problem, during an attack, supporting artillery works to a fixed timetable, 77 00:08:52,029 --> 00:08:57,610 moving their fire onto the next line of enemy defences at a set time. 78 00:08:57,610 --> 00:09:03,209 So when the infantry start their attack, gunners adjust their fire onto the second line of 79 00:09:03,209 --> 00:09:04,220 enemy defences. 80 00:09:04,220 --> 00:09:11,769 But if the infantry get held up, the supporting fire keeps moving on according to the timetable: 81 00:09:11,769 --> 00:09:18,089 the infantry get left behind, and are at the mercy of enemy machineguns. 82 00:09:18,089 --> 00:09:24,920 Aerial observation, by balloons and aircraft, can provide valuable information, but rely 83 00:09:24,920 --> 00:09:30,160 on good weather, and control of the skies. 84 00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:36,500 This is why on 1st July, it takes British commanders hours, even days, to find out which 85 00:09:36,500 --> 00:09:42,100 attacks have been successful, and which have failed. This makes it extremely difficult 86 00:09:42,100 --> 00:09:52,920 for them to react to the situation with any speed. 87 00:09:52,920 --> 00:10:00,379 Further south, there is much greater success. Despite heavy losses, the 21st and 7th Divisions 88 00:10:00,379 --> 00:10:06,029 take Mametz, and cut-off the heavily-defended village of Fricourt, which the Germans abandon 89 00:10:06,029 --> 00:10:07,569 overnight. 90 00:10:07,569 --> 00:10:13,089 On their right, the 18th and 30th Divisions take their objectives, including the village 91 00:10:13,089 --> 00:10:17,639 of Montauban, which is secure by 11am. 92 00:10:17,639 --> 00:10:23,120 Alongside them, the veteran French Twentieth Corps also takes its first day objectives, 93 00:10:23,120 --> 00:10:27,360 as well as two-and-a-half thousand German prisoners. 94 00:10:27,360 --> 00:10:34,029 The Germans didn't expect the offensive to extend so far south, and are less well-prepared. 95 00:10:34,029 --> 00:10:39,480 And crucially, the Allied bombardment is boosted by French heavy guns, which are much more 96 00:10:39,480 --> 00:10:43,249 effective at destroying barbed wire and German strongpoints. 97 00:10:43,249 --> 00:10:52,680 At 09.30am, French colonial troops lead the attack south of the Somme river. The French 98 00:10:52,680 --> 00:11:00,749 seize all their objectives, and take 3,000 more prisoners. 99 00:11:00,749 --> 00:11:06,499 Despite success in the south, the first day of the Battle of the Somme is a costly failure 100 00:11:06,499 --> 00:11:13,189 for the British. Germans losses for the day are estimated at 101 00:11:13,189 --> 00:11:22,160 12,000 men; the French lose 7,000. But the British suffer a staggering 57,000 casualties 102 00:11:22,160 --> 00:11:32,139 - one third of them killed. 1st July 1916 becomes the bloodiest day in 103 00:11:32,139 --> 00:11:35,879 the history of the British Army. 104 00:11:35,879 --> 00:11:42,639 And it's just the first day in a battle that rages for another four months, finally ending 105 00:11:42,639 --> 00:11:50,930 in November, amid freezing rain and mud. By then the Allies have advanced 10 miles, 106 00:11:50,930 --> 00:12:04,879 at a cost of 430,000 British casualties; 200,000 French casualties; and 450,000 German. 107 00:12:04,879 --> 00:12:14,050 It makes the Battle of the Somme one of the bloodiest in history. 108 00:12:14,050 --> 00:12:21,600 In British popular memory, the Somme is remembered as an unmitigated disaster, and tragedy: evidence 109 00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:27,139 of the incompetence of British generals, and the pointless sacrifice of the gallant soldiers 110 00:12:27,139 --> 00:12:33,999 under their command. But to those who fought it, and those at home, 111 00:12:33,999 --> 00:12:41,309 the Battle of the Somme was seen as a success: Casualties were enormous, and hard to bear; 112 00:12:41,309 --> 00:12:47,120 but across Europe, every warring nation was suffering terrible losses, as all commanders 113 00:12:47,120 --> 00:12:51,389 struggled to find an answer to trench warfare. 114 00:12:51,389 --> 00:12:56,410 And at the Somme, the British had not only helped save their French ally, who went on 115 00:12:56,410 --> 00:13:02,529 to defeat the Germans at Verdun, but learned vital lessons about how to fight on the Western 116 00:13:02,529 --> 00:13:05,350 Front. 117 00:13:05,350 --> 00:13:11,430 Most of all, the Battle of the Somme had been a costly, but necessary, wearing down of the 118 00:13:11,430 --> 00:13:28,110 German army – an immensely painful, but vital step on the long road to victory. 119 00:13:28,110 --> 00:13:34,129 Maps and research for this video come from Osprey Publishing's Campaign series... 120 00:13:34,129 --> 00:13:40,160 Every Osprey book examines a particular battle, campaign or combat unit in authoritative, 121 00:13:40,160 --> 00:13:46,300 meticulous detail. 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