![]() ![]() Fort Vaux fell on 7th June but it was a hollow victory for the Germans who casualties were verging on catastrophic for a battle in which they had hoped to ‘bleed France white’. Raynal signalled his fate in a pigeon message delivered by the pigeon Valiant, which fell dead at the feet of the staff officers in the Verdun citadel once its mission was complete. Surrounded, the besieged garrison under Commandant Raynal held on until food, water and ammunition all ran out. Fort Vaux was a more heroic story, at least in 1916. Here both nations bled in 1916 with more than 770,000 casualties.įort Vaux was one of many static fortifications that came to characterise the battle nearby Fort Douaumont fell to a handful of Germans but costs the lives of thousands of Poilus to retake. The so-called ‘French front’ had many of its own landmarks but for France and Germany one of its greatest symbols would be Verdun. Sometimes it is easy to forget the sacrifice of the French Army who held more than 300 miles of the front, or the more obvious fact the mighty German Imperial Army was holding all 450 miles on its side of the lines. The British lost 419,634 men, the French 204,253 and the Germans an estimated 415,000.The Western Front was more than 450 miles long and the British Army at one point occupied just over a hundred miles of it. When winter brought the offensive to a halt, the Allies had advanced about 6 miles. They captured Beaumont-Hamel, but failed to take the village of Serre. On 13 November, they launched their last attack across the Ancre. Thiepval was finally captured, and in October the British attacked the high ground overlooking Le Transloy and the River Ancre. Tanks were used for the first time at Flers-Courcelette, but they were few in numbers and mechanically unreliable. In mid-September, the Allies resumed their general offensive. There followed weeks of bitter fighting at Pozieres, High Wood, Delville Wood, Guillemont and Ginchy before the third position was breached. The British captured La Boiselle, Contalmaison and Mametz Wood, and a night attack on 13/14 July broke through the second German defensive position at Bazentin. ![]() Over the next few days, a series of smaller attacks developed. The worst casualties were suffered by: Regimentġ0th West Yorkshire (Prince of Wales’ Own)ġ5th West Yorkshire (Prince of Wales’ Own)ġ6th West Yorkshire (Prince of Wales’ Own)ġ2th York and Lancaster (Sheffield City Battalion)Ģnd West Yorkshire (Prince of Wales’ Own) The Yorkshire regiments who took part in the attack on the first day suffered 9,000 men killed, wounded and missing, more than any other region in the UK. The volunteers of the New Armies advanced into battle in long, close-formed lines, presenting a perfect target to the German machine gunners. Some troops managed to reach their objectives, but others were unable to cross No Man’s Land in the face of heavy machine gun fire. In the north, however, German defences were largely undamaged, and the attacking infantry suffered heavy casualties. ![]() In the south, where the bombardment was effective, the Allies advanced rapidly and captured the villages of Montauban and Mametz. The aim was to cut the barbed wire, destroy the trenches and dugouts, and silence the enemy’s gun batteries. A further 230,000 shells were fired in the hour before the attack, and when the attacking troops rose from their trenches ten huge mines were exploded. In the 7 days before the battle, the British artillery fired 1,508,652 shells against the first German defensive position. For many of the men who had volunteered to serve in the ‘Pals’ and ‘Chums’ battalions, it was their first experience of war. ![]() The majority of the troops were volunteers of Kitchener’s New Armies: ordinary men from all walks of life, who were enthusiastic but poorly trained. There were only a handful of Regular battalions that had crossed the Channel with the British Expeditionary Force in 1914, and a few more Territorials that had already seen action in 1915. The British Army that fought on the Somme lacked experience. The battle, which raged for four and a half months, was fought to relieve pressure on the French forces, who were engaged in the fierce struggle for Verdun, and to reduce by attrition the German army’s ability to fight. Soldiers go over the top at the Battle of the Somme ![]()
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