A Soldier’s Cemetery

by John William Streets (killed and missing in action on 1st July 1916 aged 31)

Behind that long and lonely trenched line

To which men come and go, where brave men die,

There is a yet unmarked and unknown shrine,

A broken plot, a soldier’s cemetery.

There lie the flower of youth, the men who scorn’d

To live (so died) when languished Liberty:

Across their graves flowerless and unadorned

Still scream the shells of each artillery.

When war shall cease this lonely unknown spot

Of many a pilgrimage will be the end,

And flowers will shine in this now barren plot

And fame upon it through the years descend:

But many a heart upon each simple cross

Will hang the grief, the memory of its loss.

Introduction !

       The battle also known as "The Somme Offensive" started from July 1st-November 18th, 1916 in the Somme department, either side of the Somme river, France.

A map showing the area where the Battle Of Somme took place

The Somme River today

How it all started...

       This offensive was planned late 1915 and was meant to be a French-British attack on the German lines. But before they could proceed with the attack, the Germans attacked the French in The City Of Verdun resulting in the distraction of the French. The French commander in chief, Joseph Joffre urged the new British commander in chief, Douglas Haig to commence with the attack to put more pressure on the Germans, and help the French at Verdun. 

                                                             

Joseph Joffre                                                           

Douglas Haig

                                                                      

The plan

      Douglas was now in full charge of the attack, but it took him very slowly to plan it which irritated Joffre since the French needed relief from the Germans as soon as possible. Joffre's original purpose of that battle was to drain the German's forces of reserves and to obtain territorial gain. Haig believed that he could successfully invade the German lines, but he had a very under-equipped and unprepared army.

    Haig's plan was to attack with an artillery barrage and he expected that it would destroy all the front German defences, and allow them to go across No Man's Land and posses Germany's front lines from the wounded German troops.

*Artillery barrage: A heavy firing of mounted guns and cannons, intended to slow enemy action or allow troops to advance with fewer casualties.

Preparations

      5 days prior to the attack, the British unloaded 1.5 million artillery ammunition hoping to weaken the Germans front lines.

WW1 Artillery ammunition

First day of the battle

    On July 1st, 1916, 7:30 a.m. thousands of British and French troops began their advance towards No Man's land to the Germans.

A news paper clipping on the news of the battle of Somme in the evening of the 1st day of the attack (July 1st,1916)

Results of the first day

        57,500 British soldiers (1/3 of the army) were killed, wounded or missing on the 1st day and it was known as the heaviest day's combat losses ever suffered by the British Army. It only took the Germans a few minutes to wipe out the advancing soldiers. They didn't need to aim, all they had to do was reload and shoot.

The Germans waiting to wipe out the attacking enemies with the German machine guns

Reasons to the massive fail:

1) The British army was very under-trained, under-equipped and their ammunitions were poorly constructed and very insufficient.

2) The artillery barrage failed to destroy the German's well equipped front lines, barbed wires, and heavily-built concrete bunkers leading to a fail to surprise the Germans with the attack.

Due to the lack of surprise made by the British & French troops, it was an ideal opportunity for the German troops to prepare to take down their enemies.

3) Germans used the machine gun, which was a new weapon constructed in WW1 that the British didn't believe in.

• During the attack the Germans were hiding in very well constructed shelters ready with their machine guns.The British troops were immediately forced back to their trenches because of the deadly effects of the German machine guns. 

Canadians in the battlefield

      Canadians were generally not included in Haig's decisions in The Battle Of Somme, but they did participate in the battle.

      Canada's biggest participation in the battle occured on September 15th, 1916 when a Canadian battalion 'The French Canadians of the 25th' captured the town of Courcelette and fought aganist the Germans.

Battle of Flers-Courcelettes. 
The orange area was the sector to be attacked by 150 Brigade with the 4th Yorks Battalion in the Centre. 
The trenches between the French villages of Bazentin Le Petit and Martinpuich are shown as they were held before the assault. Blue lines for British held and Red for German. 
The 4th Yorks Btn in Eye Trench had 3 objectives as shown and reached the third, but at great expense.  

     Other Battles fought by Canadians in The Somme Campaign than Flers-Courcelette were 1) Pozieres Ridge: which lasted 2 weeks and was mainly known as "The Australian Battle". The Australians were successful in capturing Pozieres village but lost over 40,000 troops.

 And Regina trench: It was a German trench that was known as the longest German trench on the front line in WW1. Canadians made several attempts of controlling various parts of this trench but weren't very successful. During the attacks on the trench Canada lost a heavy amount of troops.

Regina trench cemetery located in France that has all the dead troops of the this battle in WW1 

           Canadian troops had gained most of their objectives in these battles but lost almost 24,000 men.They also gained much respect from around the world, fear from enemies, and were recognized as courageous, tough fighters as they proved in all these battles.

During the battle

       The British soldiers had no chance; they were shot as soon as the Germans got a glimpse of them, yet Haig still insisted to go on with the attack. As Haig insited, more soldiers died.
over 600,000 French and British died in the first 3 months, and no progress was happening on their side.

The diary and photographs of Private Walter Hutchinson, who fought in the first day of the Battle of the Somme in 1916 

Saturday July 1


As soon as we got on the road we saw an awful sight, for there was wounded men by hundreds coming from the line ... then the order came down, dump everything and fix bayonets, you have got to fight for it lads. We obeyed the order like men ... I know we had had a lot of lads wounded and I had not seen anything of Charley my pal since ... the morning.


Sunday July 2


I asked about my pal and they told me they was afraid he had been killed. But I went and lifted the oilsheet from over his face and found that it was Harold Beecher ... I was very sorry for we had been good chums from the day we arrived in France ...


Tuesday July 4 - Friday 7


Made some tea and had something to eat for the first time since Saturday morning ... We was fairly quiet from the Wednes to the Friday teatime, then Fritz started shelling us again. I was talking to these three men some 10 yards away and a shell dropped and killed all the three of them. It was an awful sight.

Weaponry in Somme

      As mentioned before, The (German) machine guns were used in the Battle Of Somme and were very effective. The machine guns were usually positioned on a flat tripod, and would require a crew of 4-6 operators.  It could fire 400-600 rounds of small-calibre ammunitions per minute which had enormous and deadly effects during the war. The British rejected the machine guns in the begging, but the Germans saw its potential and worked very successfully with it.

                                       


      Tanks were first used in The Battle Of Somme , they came out in September, 1916. The first tank was called 'Little Willie' and needed a crew of 3. Its maximum speed was 3mph and it couldn't cross trenches. The first tanks were rolled out in Somme at 6:20 a.m. on the 15th of September. There were a total of 50 tanks in the start, but due to mechanical efficiency, the total number was reduced to 24.

Ending of the battle

     In October Joffre urged Haig to carry on with the battle longer to add more pressure on the Germans. The British were progressing very slowly and they were not benefiting at all that it was such a relief when the battle came to a pause on November 18th, 1916 due to very poor weather conditions. Haig was then forced to retreat and the battle ended up being a stale mate.

*Stale mate: a point at which both opposing sides cannot make any progress and are unable to gain anything or win.

Overall results of the battle

  Throughout the battle, the French and British had only gained 12kilometres of the ground, yet lost over 420,000 British, and 200,000 French soldiers. Germans were estimated at around 500,000 lost lives. This battle was known as one of the most dramatic, and enormous battles of WW1.

Effects of the battle

       The effects of this deadly, destructive battle were horrifying especially for the British and French as they lost over 1.25 million troops, and gained very little, which left them devastated and unprepared  for any further attacks in the war due to the decreasing amount of soldiers and inadequate equipments.

     Furthermore, there were a lot of controversies around Douglas Haig and his actions & terrible plans. Some say he had one of the worst plans ever in WW1 history, others say he was under pressure and severe stress. Moreover, there have been books written about him & all his choices and decisions during his participation in  WW1 battles which lead to the crisis of the British army losing millions of British troops.

  



















As for Canadians, they lost a lot of lives, but were recognised as very tough and courageous fighters. Whenever Germans knew that Canadians were attacking, they prepared for the worst. Yet Canadians were afraid this war might never end, but due to their contributions in the battle of Somme and other battles in WW1, Canada is recognised as the respectful country that it is today.

The battle of Somme video