Battle of the somme

Question 1

Who was involved

Answer 1

The British, French and German armies

Question 2

What were the results

Answer 2

Hundreds of thousands of soldiers dead. The German line was pushed back, however only a short distance

Question 3

Where did it take place

Answer 3

Northern France

Question 4

When did it take place

Answer 4

1st of July 1916 - 18th of November 1916

Question 5

Why did it take place

Answer 5

The aim of the battle was to break the German line and push it back in order to gain territory and relieve the French army at Verdun

Question 6

What was the first tactic

Answer 6

Heavy artillery fire for a weak. 3 million artillery bombs

Question 7

What was the flaw

Answer 7

The British did not foresee how stable and deep the German trenches were as well as artillery fire tangling the thick barbed wire.

Question 8

What were the assumptions of this battle

Answer 8

That the Germans would not expect the bombardment or the 1st of July advancement
That the German line would largely be destroyed by the bombardment including machine gun posts, defensive barbed wire and dugouts
That every she’ll would explode upon impact
That the German morale would be so low by 1st of July that survivors would have no will to fight
That the route would be so decisive that there was no need for speed

Question 9

What was the actual outcome of this battle

Answer 9

Germans were aware of heavy build-up in the region before the bombardment began and so could anticipate an attack
The bombardment failed to destroy German bunkers and deep dugouts and much of trench system
The bombardment failed to destroy machine gun post, the measured march across no mans land became a slaughter
The bombardment failed to destroy much of the barbed wire

Question 10

What did the British plan ignore

Answer 10

The fact that defence would be stronger than offence

Question 11

What was the casualties by the end of day 1

Answer 11

Dead - 20 000

Injured - 40 000

Question 12

By November, the end, who far did the allies push?

Answer 12

5 miles

Question 13

What were the losses of the battle

Answer 13

Britain - 420 000
France - 195 000
Germany - 650 000

Question 14

“Lions led by donkeys” - accurate???

Answer 14

Yes but no. Haig was at the top of the food chain sitting pretty and safe. where the ‘donkeys’ were following commands mindlessly without thinking of consequences.

Question 15

new weapons such as…

Answer 15

the machine gun, bolt action riffle, artillery, gases (mustard and chlorine), tank

Question 16

when did the men go over the top on the first day

Answer 16

7:30 am

Question 17

first day bad why? improvements?

Answer 17

went over in light, rolling barrage didn’t work, poor communication between sections, walking, soldiers didn’t know objective. improvements = they fixed stuff that went wrong

Question 18

1st day =

Answer 18

The day was a disaster for the British. The Germans weathered the artillery fire in deep trenches and came up fighting. However, the French had more success and inflicted big losses on German troops. In spite of heavy British losses, Douglas Haig, the British general, agreed to continue the attack.

Question 19

2nd day =

Answer 19

After the first day, where they captured three square miles of territory, the British attempted to press their advance.
Over a two week period, the British made a series of small attacks on the German line, in preparation for another large-scale assault.

Question 20

7th day =

Answer 20

Although the British press put a positive spin on the start of the “Big Push”, the casualty lists told a different story.
In the second week of July, lists of the dead and wounded began to appear in the papers. The home towns which provided the volunteers for General Kitchener’s “Pal’s battalions” were hit hardest.

Question 21

14th day =

Answer 21

Under the cover of darkness, British soldiers gathered in no-man’s land, getting ready for a massive dawn assault in the northern part of the Somme.
At 3.20am the British guns pounded the enemy lines with five times the intensity of the first day of the Somme. As the sun rose, 22,000 British troops attacked. The Germans were taken by surprise. The British achieved an early victory advancing 6,000 yards into enemy territory.

Question 22

29th August =

Answer 22

By August, the Germans had suffered nearly 250,000 casualties. Morale was low and many German leaders believed the battle was lost.
The Germans were losing ground at the Somme and at Verdun the French were attacking in earnest. The Allied naval blockades of the North Sea and the Adriatic Sea, caused food shortages in Germany. Bread, meat, sugar, eggs and milk were rationed. Germany’s general, Falkenhayn, resigned and was replaced by General Hindenburg and his chief of staff Ludendorff. They employed new tactics - German soldiers were to concede ground in order to inflict the maximum number of casualties on the Allies

Question 23

15th September =

Answer 23

At the Battle of Flers Courcelette the British deployed a new piece of technology – the tank.
By early September, the French had made significant gains and this put General Haig under pressure to launch a major attack. On 15 September the British artillery unleashed 828,000 shells and 12 divisions of men advanced, aided by their secret weapon, 48 Mark I tanks. Yet many broke down – only 21 made it to the front line. The British advanced about 1.5 miles, finally taking High Wood. However, the exhausted British soldiers could not progress any further – they sustained 29,000 casualties.

Question 24

17th September =

Answer 24

From the beginning of the battle, the Allies had dominated the skies. However, in September the Germans deployed new planes and new tactics. The British could no longer compete with the Germans in the air and this hampered observation and artillery targeting. Having gained air superiority, the Germans launched a massive infantry attack, sending thousands of soldiers over the top. However, their advance was thwarted by French artillery and machine guns, which stopped them in their tracks.

Question 25

25-28 September 1916 =

Answer 25

In late September, the British made two substantial gains – Morval and Thiepval Ridge.
At Morval, the British mastered an important tactic – the “creeping barrage”, in which artillery was fired just in front of its advancing infantry to ease their progress. On 27 September, the British 18th Division captured a key German defensive position – Thiepval fortress village.

Question 26

1st October =

Answer 26

In early October, the weather began to deteriorate and British soldiers were bogged down in yet another muddy battlefield.
At the Battle of Le Transloy Ridge on 1 October, the British struggled in a futile, uphill battle of attrition. Though exhausted, the men fought on for three weeks, trying and failing to capture the German trenches. The British soldiers came under heavy artillery fire and German planes bombed their trenches. The worsening weather hindered the British air observation – rendering their artillery ineffective. The British suffered 57,000 casualties and gained little ground.

Question 27

13 November 1916 =

Answer 27

In mid-November, the British carried out their final battle on the Somme on the River Ancre.
The “creeping barrage” was deployed again with great success and the British troops stormed the German defences. The 51st Highland Division took Beaumont Hamel and the 63rd (Royal Naval) Division took Beaucourt, capturing 7,000 German prisoners. Further south, the French gave up trying to capture St.Pierre Vast Wood as winter weather set in and a battle against the elements replaced that against the enemy.

Question 28

19 November 1916 =

Answer 28

With winter closing in, the fight was now suspended. Haig deemed the soldiers had done enough and resolved to resume the offensive in February.
In 141 days the British had advanced just seven miles and failed to break the German defence. Some historians believe that with a few more weeks of favourable weather the Allies could have broken through German lines. Others argue the Allies never stood a chance. In any case, the British army inflicted heavy losses on the German Army. In March 1917, the Germans made a strategic retreat to the Hindenburg line rather than face the resumption of the Battle of the Somme.

Question 29

When was the creeping barrage first deployed.

Answer 29

August 1916 by the British (Sir Henry Horne) during the Battle of the Somme on the Western Front. It was already a tactic in 1915 but not deployed.