This trench map was used by the Commander Royal Artillery (CRA) of 18th Division during the later stage of the Battle of the Somme. Published in December 1916, this map of the Somme region marks the Allied advances there during the previous five months. The average casualties per division (consisting of circa 10,000 soldiers) on the British sector up until 19 November was 8,026 — 6,329 for the four Canadian divisions, 7,408 for the New Zealand Division, 8,133 for the 43 British divisions and 8,960 for the three Australian divisions. v3.0.

For Germany, which had entered the war with a trained force of regulars and reservists, each casualty was sapping the experience and effectiveness of the German army. However, there was considerable scepticism at the time of the accuracy of the counts. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. German commanders did not believe the army could endure continual battles of attrition like the Somme. This page has been archived and is no longer updated.

The British daily loss rate during the Battle of the Somme was 2,943 men, which exceeded the loss rate during the Third Battle of Ypres but was not as severe as the two months of the battle of Arras (4,076 per day) or the final Hundred Days offensive in 1918 (3,645 per day). v3.0, except where otherwise stated, Return to Medicine on the Western Front (part two), Friends of The National Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. The senior German commander Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria stated, “What remained of the old first-class peace-trained German infantry had been expended on the battlefield.”.

"Google" and "Google Earth" are trademarks of Google Inc. From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Somme_%281916%29, Your email address will not be published. It remains the bloodiest day in the history of the British Army.

This interactive map shows the victories, defeats and painful stalemate, and how the lessons learned paved the way for victory on the Western Front in 1918.

On 24 February, 1917, the German army made a strategic scorched earth withdrawal from the Somme battlefield to the prepared fortifications of the Hindenburg Line, thereby shortening the front line they had to occupy. Red indicates the complex German trench systems facing the attack. One purpose of the battle was to draw German forces away from the battle of Verdun; however, by its end the losses on the Somme had exceeded those at Verdun. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. It is particularly interesting because it is ’embodying information from German prisoners’ and ‘corrected from air photographs taken on 3.10.16’. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so. The Royal Flying Corps lost 782 aircraft and 576 pilots during the battle. When a final tally was compiled after the war, a count of 419,654 British and 204,253 French killed, wounded and prisoners was reached; a total loss 623,907 of which 146,431 were killed or missing. The Battle of the Somme damaged the German Army beyond repair, after which it was never able to adequately replace its casualties with the same calibre of soldier that doggedly held its ground during most of the battle. This trench map was used by the Commander Royal Artillery (CRA) of 18th Division during the later stage of the Battle of the Somme. why so many soldiers survived the trenches, how Pack Up Your Troubles became the viral hit. Today commonly accepted figures for all German losses on the Somme are between 465,000 and 600,000. The battle is best remembered for its first day, 1 July 1916, on which the British suffered 57,470 casualties of which 19,240 were killed or died of wounds. German trenches are shown in red, while the hand-drawn coloured lines with numbers indicate the timings for the artillery barrage which would have supported an infantry assault – this would be directed on line ‘A’ between 0 and 2 minutes after Zero Hour, before lifting to line ‘B’ between 2 and 3 minutes from Zero, for example. In compiling his biography of General Rawlinson, Major-General Sir Frederick Maurice was supplied by the Reichsarchiv with a figure of 164,055 for the German killed or missing. As British historian Gary Sheffield said, “The battle of the Somme was not a victory in itself, but without it the Entente would not have emerged victorious in 1918.”. Required fields are marked *. Your email address will not be published. The British and French forces attempted to break through the German lines along a 25 mile (40 km) front north and south of … BBC © 2014 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Google Earth Hacks © 2005 - © 2020 MickMel, Inc. The map shows the locations of a few of the around 250 memorials and cemeteries that mark the Battle of the Somme. The British and French forces attempted to break through the German lines along a 25 mile (40 km) front north and south of the River Somme in northern France. Prior to the battle, Germany had regarded Britain as a naval power and discounted her as a military force to be reckoned with, believing her major enemies were France and Russia. The Battle of the Somme was one of the most significant campaigns of World War One, as the Allied forces attempted to break through the German front line in northern France, 1916. The 1916 Battle of the Somme was one of the largest battles of the First World War, with more than one million casualties. The map is hand drawn and annotated but only has a limited key in the top left. Based on an original idea by the bbc.co.uk/history team. By the end of the battle, the British and German armies were closer to being equally matched; effectively militias. A separate statistical report by the British War Office concluded that German casualties on the British sector could be as low as 180,000 during the battle. The Battle of the Somme was one of the most significant campaigns of World War One, as the Allied forces attempted to break through the German front line in northern France, 1916.

Read more. Starting with the Somme, Britain began to gain influence in the coalition, especially following the mutinies in the French army in 1917. In recognition of the growing threat Britain posed, on 31 January Germany adopted the policy of unrestricted submarine warfare in an attempt to starve the island nation of supplies, an act that would ultimately bring the United States into the war. The original Allied estimate of casualties on the Somme, made at the Chantilly conference on 15 November, was 485,000 British and French casualties versus 630,000 German. Read more. It is brutal but accurate to observe that many of the British soldiers killed on the Somme lacked experience, and therefore their loss was of little military significance. M.G. (Catalogue ref: WO 95/2019), Subscribe now for regular news, updates and priority booking for events.Sign up, All content is available under the Open Government Licence Find out more about how the BBC is covering the. Google Earth Hacks is not affiliated with Google in any way. The Somme was the first real test of this newly raised “citizens army” that had come into being following Lord Kitchener’s call for recruits at the start of the war. These figures were used to support the argument that the Somme was a successful battle of attrition for the Allies.

The British and French did succeed in capturing ground but little more than 5 miles (8 km) at the deepest point of penetration, well short of their original objectives. The British official historian Sir James Edmonds maintained that German losses were 680,000, but this figure has been discredited. However, they had been the first to volunteer and so were often the fittest, most enthusiastic and best educated of the citizen soldiers. This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. At the start of 1916, the British army had been a largely inexperienced mass of volunteers. WW I – Battle of Somme (overlay map) The 1916 Battle of the Somme was one of the largest battles of the First World War, with more than one million casualties. means machine gun, and the arrows on the symbols indicated their arcs of fire. It shows how trench maps were frequently updated in the course of battle and how the use of photography was important for this. Archives, Open Government Licence It is difficult to declare the Battle of the Somme a victory for either side. Overprinted blue lines give the successive front lines on the eve of the initial attack on 1 July, followed by 17 July, 13 September and 30 November. Taking a long-term view, the Battle of the Somme delivered more benefits for the British than it did for the Germans.