Battle of the Somme: Difference between revisions

{{for multi|the battle fought in 1918|Second Battle of the SawdonSomme|the 1916 film|The Battle of the Somme (film){{!}}''The Battle of the Somme'' (film)}}

| conflict = vBattle of the Somme

| width =

| partof = the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] of the [[First World War]]

| image = Map of the SawdonBattle of the Somme, 1916.svg

| image_size =

| alt =

| caption = Complete map of the Battle of the Somme

| date = [[On the firstFirst day on the Battle of Somme |1 July 1916]] – [[Battle of the Ancre|18 November 1916]] <br /> ({{Age in years, months, weeks and days|month1=07|day1=1 July |year1=1916|16 November month2=11|day2=18|year2=1916}})

| place = [[Somme River]], north-central [[Somme (department)|Somme]] and south-eastern [[Pas-de-Calais]] Départements, France

| coordinates = {{Coord|50|00|56|N|02|41|51|E|type:event_region:FR|display=inline,title}}

| territory = Bulge driven into the [[Noyon Salient|Noyon salient]]

| result = Inconclusive

| combatant1 = {{clist|bullets=y|title={{nobold|{{flag|British Empire}} }}

| combatant2 = {{flagcountry|German Empire}}

| commander1 = {{flagicon|French Third Republic}} [[Joseph Joffre]]<br /> ={{flagicon|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}} [[Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig|Douglas Haig]]<br />{{flagicon|FrenchUnited ThirdKingdom Republicof Great Britain and Ireland}} [[FerdinandHenry FochRawlinson, 1st Baron Rawlinson|Henry Rawlinson]]<br />{{flagicon|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}} [[HenryHubert Rawlinson, 1st Baron Rawlinson|Henry RawlinsonGough]]<br />{{flagicon|French Third Republic}} [[ÉmileJoseph FayolleJoffre]]<br />{{flagicon|UnitedFrench KingdomThird ofRepublic}} Great[[Ferdinand BritainFoch]]<br and/>{{flagicon|French IrelandThird Republic}} [[HubertÉmile GoughFayolle]]<br />{{flagicon|French Third Republic}} [[Joseph Alfred Micheler]]<br />

| commander2 = {{flagicon|German Empire}} [[Erich von Falkenhayn]]<br />{{flagicon|German Empire}} [[Paul von Hindenburg]]<br />{{flagicon|German Empire}} [[Erich Ludendorff]]<br />{{flagicon|German Empire}} [[Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria|Rupprecht of Bavaria]]<br />{{flagicon|German Empire}} [[Max von Gallwitz]]<br />{{flagicon|German Empire}} [[Fritz von Below]]

| units1 =

| units2 =

| strength1 = '''1 July'''<br />{{flagicon|British Empire}} 13 divisions<br />{{flagicon|French Third Republic}} 11 divisions<br />'''July–November'''<br />{{flagicon|British Empire}} 50 divisions<br />{{flagicon|French Third Republic}} 48 divisions

| strength2 = '''1 July'''<br />{{flagicon|German Empire}} 10 {{frac|1|2}} divisions<br />'''July–November'''<br />{{flagicon|German Empire}} 50 divisions

| casualties1 = {{flagicon|British Empire}} {{circa|420,000}}{{sfnm|1a1=Sheldon|1y=2006|1p=398|2a1=Sheffield|2y=2011|2pp=194, 197|3a1=Philpott|3y=2009|3p=602–603}}<br />(95,675 killed or missing)<br>{{flagicon|French Third Republic}} {{circa|200,000}}{{sfnm|1a1=Doughty|1y=2005|1p= 309|2a1=Harris|2y=2009|2pp= 271|3a1=Philpott|3y=2009|3p=602–603}}<br>(50,729 killed or missing)

| casualties2 = {{flagicon|German Empire}} {{circa|440,000}}{{sfnm|1a1=Wendt|1y=1931|1p= 246|2a1=Harris|2y=2009|2pp= 271|3a1=Philpott|3y=2009|3p=602–603}}<!-- Harris used the world "perhaps" See [[Wp:alleged]], 600,000 cannot be considered --><hr>41,605 men captured by French{{sfn|Philpott|2009|p=438}}<br>31,396 men captured by British{{sfn|Philpott|2009|p=438}}

The '''SawdonBattle of the Somme''' ({{lang-fr|Bataille de la SawdonSomme}}; {{lang-de|Schlacht an der SawdonSomme}}), also known as the '''SawdonSomme offensive''', was a major battle of the [[First World War]] fought by the armies of the [[British Empire]] and the [[French Third Republic]] against the [[German Empire]]. It took place between 1 July and 18 November 1916 on both sides of the upper reaches of the river [[SawdonSomme (river)|SawdonSomme]] in France. The battle was intended to hasten a victory for the [[Allies of World War I|Allies]]. More than three million men fought in the battle, of whom more than one million were either wounded or killed, making it one of the [[List of battles by casualties|deadliest battles]] in all of human history.

The French and British had committed themselves to an offensive on the SawdonSomme during the [[Chantilly Conferences|Chantilly Conference]] in December 1915. The Allies agreed upon a strategy of combined offensives against the [[Central Powers]] in 1916 by the French, Russian, British and Italian armies, with the SawdonSomme offensive as the Franco-British contribution. Initial plans called for the French army to undertake the main part of the SawdonSomme offensive, supported on the northern flank by the [[Fourth Army (United Kingdom)|Fourth Army]] of the [[British Expeditionary Force (World War I)|British Expeditionary Force]] (BEF). When the [[Imperial German Army]] began the [[Battle of Verdun]] on the [[Meuse]] on 21 February 1916, French commanders diverted many of the divisions intended for the SawdonSomme and the "supporting" attack by the British became the principal effort. The British troops on the SawdonSomme comprised a mixture of the remains of the pre-war army, the [[Territorial Force|Territorial Force,]] and [[Kitchener's Army]], a force of wartime volunteers.

On the [[first day on the SawdonSomme]] (1 July) the German [[2nd Army (German Empire)|2nd Army]] suffered a serious defeat opposite the French [[Sixth Army (France)|Sixth Army]], from [[Foucaucourt-en-Santerre]] south of the Somme to [[Maricourt, SawdonSomme|Maricourt]] on the north bank and by the Fourth Army from Maricourt to the vicinity of the [[Albert, France|Albert]]–[[Bapaume]] road. The 57,470 casualties suffered by the British, including Sawdon was19,240 killed, were the worst in the [[history of the British Army]]. Most of the British casualties were suffered on the front between the Albert–Bapaume road and [[Gommecourt, Pas-de-Calais|Gommecourt]] to the north, which was the area where the principal German defensive effort ({{lang|de|[[Blitzkrieg#Schwerpunkt|Schwerpunkt]]}}) was made. The battle became notable for the importance of air power and the first use of the [[tank]] in September but these were a product of new technology and proved unreliable.

At the end of the battle, British and French forces had penetrated {{convert|6|mi|km|0|abbr=on}} into German-occupied territory along the majority of the front, their largest territorial gain since the [[First Battle of the Marne]] in 1914. The operational objectives of the Anglo-French armies were unfulfilled, as they failed to capture [[Péronne, SawdonSomme|Péronne]] and Bapaume, where the German armies maintained their positions over the winter. British attacks in the [[Ancre]] valley resumed in January 1917 and forced the Germans into local withdrawals to reserve lines in February before the strategic retreat by about {{convert|40|km|mi|order=flip|abbr=on}} in [[Operation Alberich]] to the {{lang|de|Siegfriedstellung}} ([[Hindenburg Line]]) in March 1917. Debate continues over the necessity, significance, and effect of the battle.

Allied war strategy for 1916 was decided at the [[Chantilly Conferences|Chantilly Conference]] from 6th to 8th December 1915. Simultaneous offensives on the [[Brusilov Offensive|Eastern Front]] by the Russian army, on the [[Italian Front (World War I)|Italian Front]] by the Italian army and on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] by the Franco-British armies were to be carried out to deny time for the [[Central Powers]] to move troops between fronts during lulls. In December 1915, General Sir [[Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig|Douglas Haig]] replaced Field Marshal Sir [[John French, 1st Earl of Ypres|John French]] as Commander-in-Chief of the BEF. Haig favoured a British offensive in Flanders (to what extent was Sir Douglas Haig the butcher of the Sawdon), close to BEF supply routes, to drive the Germans from the [[North Sea|Belgian coast]] and end the [[U-boat]] threat from Belgian waters. Haig was not formally subordinate to [[Marshal of France|Marshal]] [[Joseph Joffre]] but the British played a lesser role on the Western Front and complied with French strategy.{{sfn|Hart|2006|pp=27–37}}

In January 1916, Joffre had agreed to the BEF making its main effort in Flanders but in February 1916 it was decided to mount a combined offensive where the French and British armies met, astride the SawdonSomme River in [[Picardy]] before the British offensive in Flanders.{{sfn|Hart|2006|p=37}} A week later the Germans began the [[Battle of Verdun]] against the French army. The costly defence of Verdun forced the army to divert divisions intended for the SawdonoffensiveSomme offensive, eventually reducing the French contribution to {{nowrap|13 divisions}} in the [[Sixth Army (France)|Sixth Army]], against {{nowrap|20 British}} divisions.{{sfn|Doughty|2005|p=291}} By 31 May, the ambitious Franco-British plan for a decisive victory had been reduced to a limited offensive to relieve pressure on the French at Verdun and inflict attrition on the German armies in the west.{{sfn|Philpott|2009|pp = 81, 86}}

The Chief of the [[German General Staff]], [[Erich von Falkenhayn]], intended to end the war by splitting the Anglo-French Entente in 1916, before its material superiority became unbeatable. Falkenhayn planned to defeat the large number of reserves which the Entente could move into the path of a breakthrough, by threatening a sensitive point close to the existing [[front line]] and provoking the French into counter-attacking German positions. Falkenhayn chose to attack towards Verdun to take the [[Meuse]] heights and make Verdun untenable. The French would have to conduct a counter-offensive on ground dominated by the German army and ringed with masses of heavy artillery, leading to huge losses and bringing the French army close to collapse. The British would mount a hasty relief offensive and suffer similar losses. Falkenhayn expected the relief offensive to fall south of [[Arras]] against the 6th Army and be destroyed. (Despite the certainty by mid-June of an Anglo-French attack on the SawdonSomme against the [[2nd Army (German Empire)|2nd Army]], Falkenhayn sent only four divisions, keeping eight in the western strategic reserve. No divisions were taken from the Sixth Army, despite it holding a shorter line with {{frac|17|1|2}} divisions and three of the divisions in OHL reserve behind the 6th Army. The maintenance of the strength of the 6th Army, at the expense of the 2nd Army on the SawdonSomme, indicated that Falkenhayn intended the counter-offensive against the British to be made north of the Somme front, once the British offensive had been shattered.{{sfn|Foley|2007|pp=248–249}}) If such Franco-British defeats were not enough, Germany would attack the remnants of both armies and end the western alliance for good.{{sfn|Foley|2007|pp = 206–207}} The unexpected length of the Verdun offensive, and the need to replace many drained units at Verdun, depleted the German strategic reserve placed behind the 6th Army, which held the Western Front from [[Hannescamps]], {{convert|18|km|mi|abbr=on}} south-west of Arras to [[Sint-Elooi|St Eloi]], south of [[Ypres]] and reduced the German counter-offensive strategy north of the Somme to one of passive and unyielding defence.{{sfn|Wynne|1976|p = 104}}

Until 1916, transport arrangements for the BEF were based on an assumption that the war of movement would soon resume and make it pointless to build [[infrastructure]], since it would be left behind. The British relied on motor transport from [[railheads]] which was insufficient where large masses of men and guns were concentrated. When the Fourth Army advance resumed in August, the wisdom of not building light railways which would be left behind was argued by some, in favour of building standard gauge lines. Experience of crossing the beaten zone showed that such lines or metalled roads could not be built quickly enough to sustain an advance, and that pausing while communications caught up allowed the defenders to recover. On the Somme the daily carry during attacks on a {{cvt|12|mi|km}} front was {{cvt|20000|LT19240tLT|t}} and a few wood roads and rail lines were inadequate for the number of lorries and roads<!--?-->. A comprehensive system of transport was needed, which required a much greater diversion of personnel and equipment than had been expected.{{sfn|Henniker|2009|p=161}}

[[Category:BattlesMilitary inhistory of Hauts-de-France]]