Trench Battles 1916 The Battle of Verdun and the Battle of the Somme

The Battle of the Somme Aims: Identify the reasons for the British attack at the Somme. Examine the outcome of the battle

Battle of Verdun By 1916 many battles had taken place, thousands of soldiers had lost their lives but neither side had achieved breakthrough. The Germans decided to launch a major offensive against the French at Verdun in order to break the stalemate. The Germans were defeating the Russians on the Eastern Front and were able to send some of their army to the Western Front. On the 21 st February 1915, 140,000 German soldiers and 1200 artillery guns began the attack along a 6 mile line.

Verdun was an important area to the French – it had twenty major forts that had protected the French border for many years. General von Falkenhayn believed the French would defend this city at all costs. He planned a strategy of ATTRITION. He wanted to ‘bleed the French white’ and kills so many French soldiers that the French would be unable to carry on. The French clung onto Verdun but by the end of April the Germans had lost 120,000 men and the French had lost 133,000 men. The situation was critical.

The Battle of the Somme

The British attacked at the Somme for two reasons: 1)They wanted to break the stalemate of war. 2)The attack was originally planned for August 1916 but the British decided to attack sooner to help take the pressure off the French who were suffering terrible losses at Verdun. This was the first time that the British provided more troops than the French in an offensive.

The Plan Field Marshall Haig believed a huge offensive would achieve a breakthrough. This battle became known as the ‘Big Push’. A week long artillery bombardment by 1500 guns would take place. Britain’s new volunteer soldiers were ready to fight. They would go over the top in waves of 1,000 men, 90 metres apart, along a 15 mile front in the Somme area.

The Plan

What Went Wrong? The Germans had built deep concrete shelters. The artillery bombardment did not destroy the enemy trenches and artillery guns. German planes had spotted the build up of troops in the area. Poor weather prevented British planes from locating the German artillery. The soldiers were weighed down with heavy equipment. Many British shells failed to explode.

Casualty Figures Around 60,000 British casualties on the first day – 20,000 killed and 40,000 wounded. 60% of all officers involved on the first day were killed. Scottish losses on the first day were huge. 15 th (Cranston’s) Royal Scots lost 18 officers and 610 soldiers. 16 th (McCrae’s) Royal Scots lost 12 officers and 573 soldiers. 16 th Highland Light Infantry lost 20 officers and 534 men.

Casualty Figures Three Scottish divisions – 9 th, 15 th and 51 st (Highland) took part. 51 Scottish infantry battalions took part in the Somme offensive at some time. 9 th Scottish Division performed well but sustained high casualties during the five months of fighting – 314 officers and 7203 soldiers.

The Outcome of the Battle The battle came to an end in November – the Allies had advanced 9 km – 5 miles. The British suffered 420,000 casualties, French 195,000 and the Germans around 650,000. Many Pals Battalions suffered catastrophic losses – local newspapers were filled with list of the dead, wounded and missing. The enthusiasm for war came to an end with the slaughter of 1916.

The Outcome of the Battle The number of cemeteries in the Somme area reflects the heavy fighting that took place during the war. The Thiepval Memorial, opened in 1932 contains the names of 72,000 British and South African soldiers who died at the Somme and have no known grave. 90% of the names on this memorial died during the 1916 battle.

What Was Achieved? On the one hand 400,000 British soldiers died on the Somme and no significant breakthrough was achieved. On the other hand, it eased the pressure on the French at Verdun. The Germans lost almost as many soldiers as the British and in the longer term, the German army found it difficult to replace those losses The British army found it easier to replace its losses with troops from the Empire and in 1917 the USA entered the war as well.

The Battle of Arras 1917 Took place from 9 th April to 16 th May British troops (including troops from Canada, New Zealand, Newfoundland and Australia) attacked at Arras. At the same time the French launched an attack 80km away at the River Aisne. The aim was to end the war in 48 hours. 44 Scottish battalions attacked on the first day – the largest concentration of Scots to have fought together.

A vast network of tunnels were built underground – 20km in total. These tunnels concealed 24,000 men. Although significant advance were made there was no major breakthrough. Around 53,000 out of 159,000 British casualties were Scottish. The Canadians famously captured the high ground at Vimy Ridge.

The Vimy memorial, opened in 1936 commemorates 11, 285 Canadians who fought and died during the war.