Originally posted on The History Girls
On the 1st July 1916, the Battle of the Somme began. The plan was for the British and their allies to attack the Germans along a 15 mile line, stretching from Serre, north of the Ancre, to Curlu, north of the Somme. In command was General Haig. His master plan was to weaken the enemy by a week of heavy artillery fire before the attack; so confident was he that this would create complete disarray that, on the first day of the attack, he ordered the British troops to walk slowly towards the enemy lines.
Unfortunately, the plan didn’t quite work. The artillery attack simply served to warn the Germans that an attack was imminent. They just moved underground – their trenches were deeper and better-constructed than the allied ones – and waited for the bombardment to stop. Then they popped up again and manned the machine guns. Imagine their astonishment when they saw the British walking slowly towards them, presenting a perfect target! By the end of the first day – one day – there were 60 000 allied casualties, including 20 000 dead.
There are so many of these terrible statistics for the First World War. The figures are so huge that it’s difficult to take them in – to grasp the stories behind the statistics. A few weeks ago, we were in the Somme area for a few days…
via The History Girls: The Somme – then and now: by Sue Purkiss.
I have also made tours of those battlefields, and although well-kept, and often beautiful to look at, they are also heartbreaking. The contrast between the appearance of the area now, and as it was in 1916 is striking indeed. It is hard to conceive that it is the same place. Anyone wishing to know more about this terrible war would do well to make a short trip to the battlefields and war graves in Belgium and Northern France. It is only once there, that you can begin to even imagine the enormous loss.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I’ve only ever visited the cemetery at Etaples where my great-uncle is buried but have always wanted to visit the battlefields. Thus far, it’s been a question of not having the time or, more usually, the money!
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We drove over there one year (myself and a friend) in the first week of November, before the ‘rush’ on the 11th. It was quite reasonable then, staying in cheap hotels, and eating in bars. Mind you, that was 1988, and everything was cheaper in those days!
The monuments at Vimy Ridge and Thiepval are breathtaking, and the nightly playing of the last post in Ypres will break the hardest heart…
Best wishes, Pete.
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Remember this from May? http://beetleypete.wordpress.com/2014/04/23/world-war-one-a-centenary/
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I do and I see I commented at the time much the same words I’ve written below! I shall re-blog it tomorrow. Thanks, Pete
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I have to go before I kick the bucket. Whether at the Menin Gate or anywhere else, hearing The Last Post makes me weep almost uncontrollably.
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It was the similarity of the comment that jogged my memory. Thanks Sarah.
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