Why Is The Somme Important

The Battle of the Somme progressed to become one of the most extravagant battles during the First World War. The battle lasted from 1 July thru 1 November of 1916 along the Somme River in France, posing as one of the bloodiest battles in history of WW1. With such a reputation for its blood-stained fields, at the end of the campaign both Allies and Central Powers suffered losses of more than 1.5 million people combined. On August 31, 1916, Harry Butters, a youthful U.S. resident presenting with English alliance, was slaughtered, turning into the primary American setback of World War I. The main day of the Somme hostile, July 1, 1916, brought an estimate of 57,470 English losses and more noteworthy; an aggregate of consolidated English setbacks …show more content…
The Somme River stretches from the hills at Fonsommes, near Saint-Quentin in the Aisne department, and flows westward approximately 152 miles to the English Channel - crossing the Somme departement and the ancient province of Picardy. The Somme runs in the trench across the chalk country and consists of a marshy belt, which is a significant barrier in the approaches from Flanders toward Paris. These terrain features and avenues of approach proved to be a highly strategic importance during World War I. Somme is a name derived from the Celtic samara meaning “tranquil” (Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., …show more content…
Just over 1.5 million rounds were fired in only five days of ceaseless fires at the Battle of the Somme. The French and British alliance held over a thousand surface-to-surface pieces combined to combat the German’s force capabilities. An exceedingly amount of artillery pieces were needed to accomplish the criticized plan of the current British Commander in Chief, Sir Douglas Haig; as well as the commander of Fourth Army, Sir Henry Rawlinson. A plan of unfavorable odds was necessary to break through the four-times-stronger trench wire defense and enemy strongholds. Split up into two sections, the first two days were mainly intended for the British to cut down the incomparable barbed-wire defenses of the Germans. In the final three days of the bombardment the heavy artillery’s purpose was to destroy trenches, strongpoints and enemy artillery. During the nights of the bombardment, roads and railways were continuously hammered by fires to prevent reinforcements from resupplying German troops in the trench lines (Prior, 1992). After planning this constant delivery of artillery on the Germans, the British determined they had a critical dilemma. Because of the major intent of cutting through German wire fences, masses of rounds resourced to the British were Shrapnel

Show More

Battle Of Somme Research Paper

Essay on BATTLE OF MAMETZ WOO1

Ww1 Trench Warfare

The Causes Of World War I

Essay on WW2 syllabus notes

Canadian Conscription of 1917 Essay

An Introduction To Culture And The Field Of Anthropology

Departure, Initiation, and Return Essay

Bookmark 8 Essay

How Did The Stalemate End