The Somme, 1916

German soldiers at Verdun, France, 1916






The year 1915 had been very bad for the British, French and Russians (the Allies). The Russians had nearly run out of ammunition in the east, the British had suffered nearly half of a million casualties at Gallipoli in Turkey and major attempts to push back the Germans in France had failed.

At the same time, the Germans were making steady progress towards Paris from the area in France known as Verdun. Verdun was an important part of the country in the minds of the French and they would fight hard to protect it. In May of 1916, the War Committee and the French authorities estimated their losses at around 115,000 at Verdun, but were possibly "much higher." They also feared that the German casualties were not as high as they were reporting to the public.


British soldiers at the Somme


The situation was becoming dangerous for the Allied Nations. The British and French soon realized that they needed to relieve the troops at Verdun and planned to do so by starting a new offensive near the River Somme. It was hoped that the Germans would move troops from Verdun to the Somme. The shelling of the German positions at the Somme began on June 24, intending to soften them before the attack. Over one and a half million shells were fired in that week. The bombardment went on day and night until July 1. At 7:30 that morning, the British and French troops "went over the top" and attacked the German lines.



British tank at the Somme

What had been thought to be a "decisive breakthrough" was a total failure. Little was accomplished in the first two months of fighting. The attack began again on September 15, with the first use of modern tanks in warfare history. Rains in October made the battlefield muddy and difficult to move in. By the battle's end on November 13, the British suffered 420,000 casualties, the French 195,000 and the Germans 650,000. The Allies gained 5 miles of territory. It did manage to distract the Germans from Verdun.

The Somme, 1918

The Second Battle of the Somme began at 5:00 AM on March 21, 1918. German General Ludendorff hoped that if the attack were successful, two Allied communication centers would fall at Arras and at Amiens.

The Germans fired 9,000 cannons for five hours before advancing on the British Fifth Army, forcing them to retreat. By March 25, the British had lost 150,000 men and many people were evacuating Paris. The Germans shelled Paris from 80 miles away for a week with the Big Bertha cannons.

Damage in Paris from Big Bertha shells

General Pershing was also willing to admit the severity of the situation and agreed to accelerate the arrival of American troops. In March of 1918, 60,000 Americans arrived in France; 93,000 in April; 240,000 in May and 280,000 in June. While Americans arrived in ever greater numbers, the Germans continued to advance or hold their ground. Of the six divisions Pershing had in France, only one was battle ready.

Pershing was finally able to send a few thousand American doughboys to the Somme on April 2. It was the first major engagement that American troops took part in in Europe. The battle ended two days later on April 4 but the Allies had managed to keep the Germans from taking the towns of Arras and Amiens.


Arras, 1918. A town defended by Americans.

In the end, the Allies suffered 200,000 casualties at the Second Battle of the Somme, the Germans captured 70,000 prisoners and forty square miles of French territory. However, the German Army lost nearly as many men and were very low on supplies, while the Allies were gaining new equipment and troops from the States all the time. There were 20,000 American casualties.