The First World War
The Battle of the Somme
The Battle of the Somme
What happened?
The Battle of the Somme
What happened?
© Hodder Education, 2010
The Battle of the Somme
What happened?
The First World War
Here are the titles and bullet points for the presentation but they are all jumbled up.
Rearrange them to make a presentation which tells the story of the battle.
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1.7 million shells pounded German lines in last week of June
27 British divisions attacked 16 German divisions
Artillery bombardment to destroy German positions
Attack began 1 July 1916 – not at dawn because little
resistance was expected
Barbed wire would be cut and dug-outs smashed
Battle ended November 1916
British commander Haig favoured attack in Flanders
British troops would walk across No Man’s Land
British would attack at Somme to relieve Verdun
British would carry heavy packs and equipment
Casualties: British 420,000; French 200,000; German 500,000
Cavalry to charge through gaps
Chaos in the attack
Defenders in strong position – high ground and good view
First day of the battle
French forces made quick gains but British advanced slowly
German defences well established
German pressure on Verdun led to change in plans
German wire almost impossible to get through
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Haig and his deputy Rawlinson worked out tactics
Haig and Rawlinson’s tactics
Haig faced much criticism
Many shells were poor quality and not powerful enough
to destroy defences
No spectacular breakthroughs but some territory
captured and many Germans casualties
Original plan was French attack with British support
Rawlinson had doubts about continuing but Haig
insisted
Secondary aim was to cause heavy German casualties
Slow pace of the British allowed the Germans to
recover their defences
Some new approaches were tried, e.g. tanks
September 1916
Soon became clear it was a disaster – junior officers
decimated
The plan
The rest of the battle
Were they the right tactics?
Wire undamaged in many areas
© Hodder Education, 2010