Key Term Glossary. A country s allies are other countries that have agreed to fight with them on their side in war, this is a formal agreement.

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1 Key Stage 3 Glossary Key Term Glossary This resource will use some specialist terms and phrases that may require some explanation. Refer back to this glossary as and when you need to. Term Ally/allies Artillery British Empire Colony Infantry Mortar Shelling Trench Trench mortar The Western Front Zero hour Explanation or definition A country s allies are other countries that have agreed to fight with them on their side in war, this is a formal agreement. Artillery is a term that describes all large guns that can be moved about, capable of firing explosive shells that cause considerable destruction. Artillery fire caused more deaths in the First World War than any other form of weapon. Britain used to maintain many colonies across the world and their collective term, together with Britain, was the British Empire. Even though this term is no longer current or relevant to Britain, you will notice that this resource uses this term - this is because the resource is referring to Britain and its colonies at the time of the First World War, rather than Britain in the present day. A colony is a country, region or territory that is under full or partial control by a more powerful nation and is occupied by settlers of that nation. This is usually achieved through military means. The infantry are soldiers that move about and fight on foot. The vast majority of soldiers who fought on the Western Front belonged to the infantry. A mortar is a small gun, operated by one or two soldiers and capable of firing grenade-like bombs. Mortars were often used in trench warfare, where those fighting were close together. Heavy gunfire aimed at saturating an area not necessarily aimed at hitting one specific target but rather overwhelming an entire area. Trenches were deep and long ditches, often in zigzag patterns (to prevent explosions reaching its full length), that were dug by soldiers in the battlefield, providing basic cover for soldiers from gunfire. A light simple mortar designed to propel a bomb into enemy trenches. The Western Front, a 400-plus mile stretch of land through France and Belgium from the Swiss border to the North Sea, was the point at which opposing forces concentrated the majority of face to face combat in the First World War. The time at which a planned military operation is set to begin. 1

2 Key Stage 3 Section 1 How and why should we remember the Battle of the Somme today? The Battle of the Somme 1916 Background Information The Battle of the Somme was one of the largest battles of the First World War in which more than 1,000,000 men on both sides were wounded, killed or missing, making it one the bloodiest battles in history. It took place between 1 st July and 18 th November 1916 in Northern France around the River Somme. Map 1 2

3 The battle was part of a co-ordinated Allied strategy for 1916, involving attacks on all fronts. The aim was to apply overwhelming pressure to Germany and her allies, wearing them down in multiple places, causing them to buckle and collapse. Most of the soldiers in the British Army were volunteers who had joined up in 1914 in their hundreds of thousands in response to a government campaign led by Lord Kitchener for new recruits. 'Kitchener's New Army' was divided into battalions often made up of volunteers from the same cities, towns and villages, or from the same workplace. In the North, these battalions were often known as Pals Battalions e.g. the Accrington Pals and the Barnsley Pals. Some battalions were even made up of sportsmen such as the Football Battalion. For many of these volunteers the Battle of the Somme was their first experience of fighting in a large scale battle. On the orders of Sir Douglas Haig, the commander of the British Army, the Battle was proceeded by a weeklong artillery bombardment of the German lines. More than 1.5 million shells were fired at the Germans lines but the Germans had built deep dugouts and were able to shelter in relative safety. When the bombardment lifted and the British infantry attacked the Germans rushed out of their dugouts to man their machine guns. The first day of the Battle of the Somme, 1 July 1916, was the most disastrous the British Army has ever suffered. Along much of the front, particularly in the north and centre, the advancing British soldiers were met with a hail of German machine gun and artillery fire and huge numbers of soldiers were quickly cut down. The surviving attackers dived for cover and advanced slowly from shell-hole to shell-hole. Soldiers of a Tyneside Irish battalion of Northumberland Fusiliers supporting the attack on La Boisselle, shortly after zero hour on 1 July IWM (Q 53) In the South, where the bombardment was more effective, British and French soldiers made better progress, capturing that part of the German front line. But the cost of that first day was terrible: 60,000 British troops were wounded, dead or missing; of this number, 19,000 were killed. Many of the Pals battalions attacked in the north and suffered heavy casualties. The Battle continued for five months. Soldiers from all over the British Empire including Australia, Canada, Bermuda, India, Newfoundland and New Zealand would fight on the Somme. New weapons and tactics would be deployed, including the tank. The Allies were able to make some progress in pushing back the Germans, though slowly and at a heavy cost. In November, as winter set in, the battle was called to a halt. 3

4 By the end of the Battle, 1,000,000 men on both sides were wounded, killed or missing. The British Empire had 420,000 wounded, missing and killed, the French nearly 200,000, and the Germans around 500,000. The Allied forces had managed to advance a few miles, damaging the German army, but at a huge cost in lives. Although the Germans were weakened, the Allies had failed to make a breakthrough and the War continued for another two years. For many people the Battle of the Somme brought home for the first time the true horrors of warfare in the First World War and tragic loss of human life. The Thiepval Memorial to the Missing - background Information The Thiepval Memorial to the Missing stands on the heights of Thiepval Ridge at the centre of the old Somme battlefields. The ridge is one of the highest points on the landscape and it is possible to see the top of the memorial from miles around. Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, a famous architect who also designed the Cenotaph in London, the Memorial was built between 1928 and 1932 and is the largest British battle memorial in the world. It is a memorial to over 72,000 missing British and South African servicemen who died in the battles of the Somme between 1915 and 1918 and who have no known grave. 4

5 Activity 1: What was the impact of 72,000 dead? There are over 72,000 names carved on the pillars of the Thiepval Memorial, but how might you begin to think about the impact of the 72,000 names. Let's look at one of the names on the Memorial. Complete the table by adding in the missing figures. Think about the impact of one name on the Thiepval Memorial People affected James Pendlebury lived in Chorley and served with 11 th East Lancashire Regiment (Accrington Pals). He was killed near Serre during the Battle of the Somme on the 1st July His name is one of the 72,000 on the Memorial (Panel 6c.) Numbers His wife 1 3 children 3 His parents 2 His parents-in-law 2 2 brothers 2 3 sisters 3 3 brothers / sisters in law 3 1 grandparent 1 5 nieces and nephews 5 4 aunts / uncles 4 Immediate neighbours 4 Friends from work / school 5 Number of people directly affected by the 35 death of James Pendlebury 1 soldier's death affected directly 35 people; Potentially how many people were affected by the Missing of the Somme: EQUALS = What is 35 multiplied by 72,000? Population of the UK in 1911 (England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland) What percentage of the UK population might have been affected by the Missing of the Somme? 45,400,000 People affected = Divided by UK population = Times 100 = % of the UK population = 5

6 How did the Battle of the Somme affect different local communities? The 4 tables here look at the impact of the Battle of the Somme on the local communities of Oswestry in Shropshire, Kidderminster in Warwickshire, Accrington in Lancashire, and Brechin in Fife, Scotland. (Data taken from Commonwealth War Graves Commission and Vision of Britain.org.uk, correct as of 2014) Table 1 6

7 Table 2 Table 3 7

8 Table 4 8

9 What happened to the Accrington Pals? When war broke out in 1914 Britain had only a small regular army. The government began to recruitment more men. In order to aid recruitment, men from the same town, the same street and, in some cases, the same football team, were able to join together and serve alongside each other in what became known as Pals battalions. Recruitment to these Pals Battalions was very successful; the men shared a common identity and were a source of local pride. They became part of a local regiment, so the men from Accrington and other towns in north and east Lancashire became the 11 th Battalion of the East Lancashire Regiment. Bradford, a larger city, recruited two Pals Battalions - the 16 th and 18 th Battalions of the West Yorkshire Regiment, and the Sheffield City Battalion and Barnsley Pals joined the York and Lancaster Regiment as its 12 th, 13 th & 14 th Battalions. These soldiers were all part of Lord Kitchener's 'New Army'. For most of these men the Battle of the Somme was their first real experience of battle - many had spent only a few months at the front before then and had suffered few casualties. The Pals Battalions in parts of the Somme battlefield suffered very heavy casualties in the first hours of the Battle. The Accrington Pals who attacked towards the village of Serre in the north of the Somme battlefield were particularly hard hit; approximately 700 men from the Accrington Pals went into action on 1 st July 1916 and within half an hour over 580 men had become casualties including 235 killed. Many of these came from the same few streets in the small Lancashire town of Accrington - many people in this community had a relative or friend who was killed or wounded on this day, or in the months and years of war that followed. Soldiers of a Pals battalion (the 10th Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment, the Hull Commercials ) march up to the trenches on the Somme, 28 June IWM (Q 743) 9

10 Battalion War Diary for 11 East Lancashire Regiment (Accrington Pals) written on the 1 st July a.m. Bombardment opened (on German lines) and the 1 st wave of men crossed into No- Man's Land. The Germans opened almost immediately with machine gun fire followed a few minutes later an immense bombardment on our trenches a.m. The 2 nd wave of men proceeded to follow the 1 st wave into No Man's Land a.m. Men of the Barnsley Pals crossed into No Man's Land following my 2 nd wave a.m. I saw my 3 rd and 4 th wave of men advancing from the trenches across No-Man's land. By this time there was intense machine gun and artillery fire from the enemy a.m. Capt. Gurney and the Barnsley Pals arrived with only 9 men. I could not see any of my waves except for wounded men lying in No-Man's land. Germans bombarding our trenches a.m. Bombardment opened (on German lines) and the 1 st wave of men crossed into No- Man's Land. The Germans opened almost immediately with machine gun fire followed a few minutes later an immense bombardment on our trenches a.m. The 2 nd wave of men proceeded to follow the 1 st wave into No Man's Land a.m. Men of the Barnsley Pals crossed into No Man's Land following my 2 nd wave a.m. I saw my 3 rd and 4 th wave of men advancing from the trenches across No-Man's land. By this time there was intense machine gun and artillery fire from the enemy a.m. Capt. Gurney and the Barnsley Pals arrived with only 9 men. I could not see any of my waves except for wounded men lying in No-Man's land. Germans bombarding our trenches. Percy Holmes, the brother of an original Pal, recalled "I remember when the news came through to Accrington that the Pals had been wiped out. I don't think there was a street in Accrington and district that didn't have their blinds drawn, and the bell at Christ Church tolled all the day." (The Accrington Pals website - e.htm) 10

11 How have the memories of the Accrington Pals been kept alive since 1916? Established in 1917, the Imperial (now Commonwealth) War Graves Commission commemorates more than 1.7 million dead of the two World Wars. Their founding principle was to honour each person equally, regardless of rank, race or religion. They keep their memory alive by caring for the graves and memorials of those who died during the battle of the Somme, at sites across the battlefield, behind the lines and in the home countries of the men and women who fought and died. Queens Cemetery, Puisieux On 1 July 1916 the Accrington Pals attacked towards the village of Serre, across the ground on which this cemetery now stands. The cemetery was begun in 1917 after the battle of the Somme when the British army searched the battlefields for those who had died. Buried or commemorated within this cemetery are over 310 Commonwealth soldiers, of whom 50 belonged to the Accrington Pals. Queens Cemetery, Puisieux, looking towards the village of Serre. CWGC Euston Road Cemetery, Colincamps This cemetery was begun behind the British lines on or shortly after 1 July It contains many of the those who died during the first day of the battle of the Somme. Some 24 soldiers of the Accrington Pals are buried here, alongside 150 other soldiers who died on 1 July. Euston Road Cemetery, Colincamps Mike St Maur Sheil Today, nearly 1,300 Commonwealth soldiers of the First World War are buried in the cemetery Mike St Maur Sheil Thiepval Memorial The Thiepval Memorial commemorates 72,000 British and South Africa servicemen who died on the Somme, between 1915 and On this memorial are inscribed the names of over 700 soldiers of the East Lancashire Regiment. Over 140 men of the Accrington Pals are named among them. 11

12 How else have the memories of the Accrington Pals been kept alive since 1916? Memorial to the Accrington Pals on the Somme, France The memorial was built with red Accrington brick and dedicated in 1991 to the memory of the Accrington Pals. The Accrington Pals website This website is dedicated to the memory of the 11th (Service) Battalion (Accrington) East Lancashire Regiment, better known as the Accrington Pals. The website can be found at: e.htm The Accrington Pals, a play by Peter Whelan This fictional play was written in 1982 by Peter Whelan. It tells the story of the men of the Accrington Pals who volunteered to fight in the British Army during the First World War and of the women who were left behind in Accrington. More details can be found by searching The Accrington Pals, Peter Whelan, on Google. The Accrington Pals, a song by Mike Harding In 1986 Mike Harding, a folk singer wrote a song about Accrington Pals - the lyrics and the song can be found on his website at: How would you memorialise them? 12

13 Key Stage 3 Section 2 Why did the British attempts to break through the German lines in 1915 end in failure? By the early spring of 1915 the line of trenches known as the Western Front had stabilized - the various battles that had taken place in the autumn of 1914 had ended in stalemate with very heavy casualties on both sides. Both the Allies and the Germans extended and fortified their positions to be deeper and stronger, using concrete and barbed wire, and bringing up heavier artillery and more machine guns. Now, to be successful, an attacking force had to somehow reach and punch a hole through the enemy's defensive lines. This problem was to occupy military planners for most of the war. In 1915 the British launched a number of offensives against the Germans including at Festubert and Loos all ended in failure. Table 1: Summary of main battles which involved British and Empire forces in 1915 Battle Front Divisions Ground gained/lost Casualties (killed, wounded) 2 nd Ypres 6km 6 (+2 French) Lost ground 59,000 Festubert 8km 6 1km 16,000 Loos 10km 6 3km 60,000 Map 1: The British sector of the Western Front in 1915 Approximate limits of the British sector on the Western Front in Map Data 2014 Google Sites of the major attacks in the British sector of the Western Front in nd Battle of Ypres April - May. 2. Battle of Festubert - May. 3. Battle of Loos September - October. 13

14 Map 2: Battle of Festubert: a British Offensive A sketch map from the "War Story of the Canadian Army Medical Corps" by J. George Adami What happened at the Battle of Festubert? There was a severe shortage of ammunition for the British artillery. The British bombardment was insufficient to break the German wire and defences, or to destroy the machine guns in the front line. German reserves were not attacked by the British artillery. Poor organisation behind the British front line made it harder to move reinforcements up to the line and move casualties away from the line. British reserves had been positioned too far back to be able to support the initial attack. When they did arrive, the Germans had patched up their defences. British artillery equipment and ammunition were in poor condition: the first through over-use, the second through faulty manufacture. British intelligence, ground and air observation did not detect that the Germans had dug a new second defensive line behind their original front line. When not immediately cut down by enemy machine-guns, British infantry had good offensive fighting quality and abilities in close trench conditions; but British bombs (grenades) were very suspect and were of limited usefulness in close-in fighting compared with later designs. 14

15 Map 3: The Battle of Loos: A British Offensive What happened at the Battle of Loos? Intelligence about the newly-strengthened German positions was not used. Mines underneath the German lines were blown up before the start of the attack, destroying several strong points in the German line but reducing the element of surprise. Smoke screens were effective; cloud (poison) gas was not. It was unpredictable in the wind. The British artillery bombardment was not long enough or heavy enough to break the German wire and defences and German machine-guns, artillery, and reserve troops were insufficiently suppressed. Poor organisation behind the British front line did not allow for easy movement of reinforcements and casualties. At this point in the war British grenades were of poor design and manufacture and were inferior to contemporary German designs. Aeroplanes from the Royal Flying Corps could not report on the position of troops due to poor weather. It was therefore not possible to give accurate information to the generals or artillery. The New Army Divisions fought bravely but were not yet trained to a sufficiently high fighting standard as a formation; they would need a period of familiarity with war conditions and could not be reliably deployed 'straight off the boat'. The withdrawal of cookers to Divisional control was a disaster, with many men going hungry to battle. 15

16 Comparing and contrasting the Battles of Festubert and Loos Task 1: Look back at the previous sources and identify the similarities and differences in the mistakes or weaknesses in the way the British fought the Battles of Festubert and Loos. Weakness at Festubert and Loos The British artillery bombardment was not long enough or heavy enough to break the German wire and defences. A weakness only at Loos The New Army Divisions were not yet trained to a sufficiently high fighting standard. 16

17 How did British High Command work out their 1916 plan of attack on the Somme? Task 2a: Look at the list of problems the British Army encountered in 1915 when fighting the Germans on the Western Front. Below the table is a summary of the British plan of attack for the Battle of the Somme - use this to complete the right-hand column in Table 2. Planning a New Offensive Problems 1916 Solutions Lack of training and experience of the Kitchener volunteers including the Pals battalions. Lack of thorough artillery preparation Insufficient numbers of army reserves. Not knowing where troops are on ground during battle. Not supporting advancing troops with artillery cover. Difficulties in moving reserves soldiers forward in a congested front area. Difficulties in breaking through the welldefended lines of German trenches. The British plan of attack for 1916: The battle was delayed until the summer of 1916 in order to build up the size of the army in France and better train the New Army units including the Pals battalions. Despite this there were still concerns about the experience of the New Army formations and so the attack would rely on a massive artillery bombardment of the German lines which would last for 5 days (which was extended to 7 days due to poor weather). The attack would be much larger than previous attacks, along a wider front, involving many thousands more troops and hundreds more artillery guns than the battles of Behind the lines, troops constructed miles of roads and light railways to allow the movement of men, ammunition and equipment to and from the front lines. The Royal Flying Corps (forerunner of the Royal Air Force) and French air forces would gain control of the skies over the battlefield enabling observation aircraft to spy on the German artillery and troops. A number of large mines would be exploded underneath German strong points before the infantry attack At Zero Hour waves of troops would leave their front lines and occupy the first lines of German trenches. It was hoped that the artillery preparations would have been so thorough that the advancing troops would encounter very little opposition. Later in the day, reserves would then advance through the German first line and attack the German second lines. This would open a gap in the German defences allowing British Cavalry forces to pass through and operate deep behind German lines. 17

18 Task 2b: Do you think the Generals had good reason to feel confident that their plans would work and result in the British Army breaking through the German lines? Why was the first day of the Battle of the Somme such a disaster? The Battle of the Somme was one of the largest battles of the First World War. It took place between 1 st July and 18 th November 1916 in Northern France around the River Somme. The first day of the Battle of the Somme, 1st July 1916, was the most disastrous the British Army has ever suffered. The soldiers advanced over no-man's land expecting the German defences to have been destroyed, or at least badly damaged, by a week of artillery bombardment. Instead, along much of the line of attack, they were met with intact barbed wire defences and a hail of German machine gun and artillery fire - huge numbers of soldiers were quickly cut down. The surviving attackers dived for cover and advanced slowly from shell-hole to shell-hole. It was later calculated that one third of the British shells fired in the preliminary bombardment failed to explode, usually due to faulty manufacture. "The officers were in the front. I noticed one of them walking calmly carrying a walking stick. When we started firing we just had to load and reload. They went down in their hundreds. You didn't have to aim, we just fired into them." - A German machine gunner at the Battle of the Somme (from The First day on the Somme, Martin Middlebrook, first published 1967) 18

19 "The next morning (July 2nd) we gunners surveyed the dreadful scene in front of us Hundreds of dead were strung out like wreckage. Quite as many died on the enemy wire as on the ground, like fish caught in the net. They hung there in grotesque postures. Some looked as if they were praying; they had died on their knees and the wire had prevented their fall. Machine gun fire had done its terrible work. - Private George Coppard at the Battle of the Somme (From With a Machine Gun to Cambrai, George Coppard, first published 1969) In parts of the line British soldiers were able to break into the German defences, but often the attacks to their right and left had failed and so the soldiers were forced to retreat or were overwhelmed by German counter attacks. In the south, British and French forces made some progress, capturing a number of the fortified villages, but in the north the attacks almost entirely unsuccessful. The British Army suffered nearly 60,000 casualties, of whom over 19,000 had been killed. But despite these losses the battle continued. The British Army focused on the southern part of the battlefield, attacked on a narrower front, and with a greater concentration of men and artillery it was able to slowly push back the German troops over the next five months. Reinforcements were brought in, including troops from Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand and South Africa. New weapons and tactics were deployed, including the tank. In November, as winter set in the battle was brought to a halt. The British had lost 420,000 men, wounded, missing or killed, while the French lost nearly 200,000 men and the Germans around 500,000. The Allied forces had managed to inflict serious damage upon the Germans but at a huge cost in lives and the War was to continue for another two years. But for many people the Battle of the Somme brought home for the first time the true horrors of warfare in the First World War. Task 3: Use the sources above and the information in Table 3 to explain why the first day of the Battle of the Somme was such a disaster. German defences on the Somme Soldiers of a Tyneside Irish battalion of Northumberland Fusiliers supporting the attack on La Boisselle, shortly after zero hour on 1 July IWM (Q 53) The German Army had spent most of 1915 creating a series of strong defensive lines across the Western Front. On the Somme the front line ran through a series of villages: Serre, Beaumont Hamel, Thiepval in the Ancre Valley and then Ovilliers and La Boisselle astride the main road from Albert to Bapaume, then Fricourt, Mametz and Montauban on higher ground south and west. 19

20 Table 3: German defences on the Somme Fortified villages: e.g. Serre, Beaumont Hamel, Thiepval Redoubts: e.g. Hawthorn Redoubt, Schwaben Redoubt Defence in depth Deep underground shelters Three 'Front Lines' The German front line ran through these villages, the ruins were fortified, cellars made perfect machine gun posts. The cellars were linked to each other and to dug outs by tunnels. Strong points in open country, usually on higher ground, many underground dugouts and passages. They were confusing places for an enemy. The Germans could attack from a number of different directions. Redoubts could cover an area bigger than a football pitch. The German Front Line consisted of front line, support and reserve trenches - all linked by communication trenches. Each trench system had a number of dugouts, machine gun posts and belts of think barbed wire. The rock in the Somme was chalk, easy to dig into. Some shelters were more than 7m deep, over 2m wide and 25m long. Sometimes they had 4 or 5 entrances. About 5 km behind the front line was the German Second Line which was built in a similar way, a further 5km behind this was the German Third Line was under construction. How can we find out exactly what happened to the Accrington Pals on the 1 st July? A large number of official records have survived which are linked to this part of the Somme battle, from aerial photos and trench maps to battalion war diaries and battle reports. A war diary is a day by day account of the actions of a unit; at quiet times it is updated daily, but during battles it would be written up after action, and may feature hour by hour, or even minute by minute, details of fighting using copies of signals forms, reports filed by officers, etc. A battle report was an official record written some days after the events. This battle report below was written by an officer of the 12 th York and Lancaster Battalion - the Sheffield City Battalion - who fought alongside the Accrington Pals. The German lines had been subject to a seven day artillery bombardment that was meant to destroy German front positions and defenders. There was a common conception that the shelling would be so heavy that the attackers 'wouldn't find a rat alive in the German trenches'. At 7.20 the soldiers from the Accrington Pals and other Pals Battalions began to move across No Man's Land ready to attack. The distance between the British front line and the German lines here was about 600m. The red arrows on the trench map below show the direction of the British attack. 20

21 Photograph 1: British Aerial Photograph of the German Front Line Trenches at Serre Map 5: A trench map of Serre 21

22 Battalion war diary for 11 East Lancashire Regiment 1 st July :20 a.m. Hurricane bombardment opened (on German lines) and the 1 st wave crossed into No Man's Land. The Germans opened almost immediately with MG (machine gun) and rifle fire putting on a few minutes later an immense barrage. 7:22 a.m. The 2 nd wave proceeded to follow the 1 st wave into No Man's Land 7:23 a.m. Two platoons 13 Y & L (1 st Barnsley Pals) crossed following my 2 nd wave 7:29 a.m. I saw my 3 rd and 4 th wave advancing (from reserve trenches) By this time there was intense rifle MG fire and a very heavy barrage of artillery fire. They crossed into No Man's Land crossing the front line about :10 a.m. Capt. Gurney 13 Y & L (Barnsley Pals) arrived with only 9 men in his two platoons. I further reported I could see odd groups in my front believed to be wounded. Also that I could not see any of my waves. No further report from waves. Heavy artillery barrage on front line. 9:20 p.m. I am getting the wounded evacuated as soon as possible but there a good number yet to be attended to. The men are a good deal rattled. Have very few NCOs. (Note 1 platoon = approx. 60 men) 11:25 a.m. No information from my waves. Capt. Livesey states 1 st wave encountered heavy MG, rifle and grades and bombs and artillery in crossing No Man's Land. Capt. Livesey 1 st wave with remnants (survivors) of 2 nd wave together with 3 rd wave charged German trenches led by Capt. Livesey. 22

23 Battle Report 12 th York and Lancaster (Sheffield City Battalion) on 1 st July, written on 15 th July 1916 GERMAN TRENCHES ETC Front line trench 12ft deep, 3ft wide at bottom. There were no fire steps. The wire in front of the German trench is very thick, from 2 to 5ft high and comes to within 3ft of the edge of the trench. DUG-OUTS One dug out noted - this was deep, it had about 13 steps and would accommodate 8 men. This dug out was not damaged by our fire (which allowed) large numbers of the enemy apparently appearing from nowhere in the front line. MACHINE GUNS Machine guns were fired both from emplacements (prepared positions) and from behind the parados (a bank of earth at the rear of a trench). This gun (alone) caused a great number of casualties. SUGGESTIONS AND CRITICISMS The first wave should not have occupied the front line trenches. Owing to the Trench Mortars being in position in the front line, it became a death trap when the enemy retaliated against them. The Assembly Trenches were not dug deep enough. TACTICS The attack should have begun at dawn. The enemy had 4 hours to prepare for an attack as our intention was given away by the gaps cut in our wire. Men who reached the German wire state that on looking towards our lines, they could see almost every movement. Any attack by day was scarcely likely to succeed. The attack should have been in double time. The waves were too far apart, the distance between them allowing the enemy to pay attention to each wave before the next came up. The general opinion was the Officers, NCOs and machine gunners were marked men. Approximately 700 men from the Accrington Pals went into action on the 1 st July 1916 and within half an hour over 580 men had become casualties including 235 killed. Task 4a: Use the sources to reconstruct exactly what happened to the Accrington Pals on the 1 st July Task 4b: Why were there so many casualties? 23

24 Did all the attacks during the Battle of the Somme end in failure? In September 1916 General Sir Ivor Maxse was ordered to plan an attack on Thiepval and the Schwaben Redoubt a heavily fortified and defended part of the Somme battlefield. The Germans had held out there since 1 st July: why did Maxse think he could be successful? In his own words he believed 'a well-trained division can capture any impregnable stronghold'. Task 5a: Look at General Maxse's battle plan and use this to explain why his attack on Thiepval and the Schwaben Redoubt was a success. Preparation and Training: Prisoners were questioned about the position of machine guns and artillery. These were all marked on a map. Officers were brought to inspect the German positions two weeks before the attack began. The attack was planned in minute detail. Artillery and Infantry officers worked closely together to plan the attack. 5 days before the attack all plans were finished giving officers time to ask any questions. Infantry training was thorough: men were not just told what to do, everything was explained to them. Each man knew his part in the attack. Ten days before the attack the infantry occupied the trenches in front of Thiepval making sure that they got to know this part of the battlefield. The Attack: Previous attacks had often started early in the morning, Maxse ordered this assault to start at midday. A creeping barrage moved twice as fast as was usual, moving 100m towards the enemy every two minutes. The 1 st Infantry Wave was equipped with 250 Lewis guns (light machine guns). Lewis gunners were told to target known German machine gun positions. The artillery focused more on targeting the enemy guns rather than trying to destroy their trenches. The attack was supported by a number of tanks (six). These were slow and often broke down, but when they worked they were capable of crushing the barbed wire and engaging enemy machine guns. Task 5b: What lessons did the Generals learn from the Battle of the Somme? 24

25 Key Stage 3 Section 3 The Battle of the Somme and the British Empire Background Information The Battle of the Somme was also important for parts of the British Empire. In 1914, Australia, Canada, Newfoundland, New Zealand, and South Africa were Dominions, which means they had domestic self-rule. The power to declare war, however, stayed with the British government so when Britain declared war on 4 th August 1914, the Dominions were at war also. A large number of people from Great Britain and Ireland had settled in these places, so links with the UK were very close indeed and many people in the Dominions were as keen as the Kitchener volunteers in Britain to join the Army and fight for their mother country. The Dominions raised their own armies which fought alongside the British Army. Each Dominion had its own General Staff and they recruited, trained and equipped their own soldiers. At the start of the war no one knew how effective these armies were going to be. The Battle of the Somme was to prove a testing ground for these new armies but for the Dominions their links to the Somme proved to be more important than just a place where they fought hard and fought well. Map 1: The British Empire in 1911 which shows the Dominions: Canada, Newfoundland, the Union of South Africa, Australia and New Zealand 25

26 Task 1: For either Newfoundland (Section 1) or Australia (Section 2) complete the following tasks: Using the sources provided set out in detail exactly what happened to the Newfoundlanders or Australians during the Battle of the Somme. Explain why what happened in 1916 might have had such an impact on people back home in Newfoundland or Australia, and using the sources provided explain how the memory of these events has been kept alive by the Governments of these countries almost ever since. Section 1: Newfoundland The Newfoundland Regiment and the Battle of the Somme 1916 Newfoundland is today part of Canada. Until 1949 it was a separate Dominion and one of the oldest parts of the British Empire with English settlers setting up the first colony in the 17 th century. Just off the North East coast of Canada the climate is very harsh with long winters and cool summers. The land is not very fertile and most of the country is covered in pine forests. Being an island most people made a living from the sea, many fishing for cod. The climate and the isolation gave the Newfoundlanders a very independent frame of mind. Source 1 In 1914 Newfoundland had no army at all. On the outbreak of the War, the Governor organised a committee with twenty-five members to recruit a force of 500 men for service with the British Army. So great was the enthusiasm that over 1000 men volunteered, sufficient to form a complete battalion. Recruits came in from all over the island and from every occupation, including fishermen, sailors, schoolteachers, lumbermen. Right: Regimental Badge of the Newfoundland Regiment, granted the Royal in January

27 Map 2: The island of Newfoundland off the North East coast of Canada Map 3: Newfoundland: A thinly populated island, most people lived in small fishing villages on the coast. Map Data 2014 Google 27

28 What happened to the Newfoundland Regiment on 1 st July 1916? The 1 st Battalion of the Newfoundland Regiment was part of the 29 th Division. On the morning of 1 st July the Newfoundlanders were in reserve at the beginning of the battle. Once the first waves had captured the German front line it was to be the Newfoundlanders task to advance across no man s land and through the captured trenches to attack the German lines beyond. However, once the first attack started, communications broke down and commanders were unsure what had happened. Without knowing if the German front line had in fact been captured, the Newfoundlanders and a battalion of the Essex Regiment were ordered to reinforce the attack. The Newfoundland in reserve 07:30 10:00 The Newfoundlanders had heard the pre-attack bombardment, the explosion of the mine at Hawthorn Redoubt and then the German machine guns. An anxious wait followed while the wounded brought rumour that the attack had not been successful. In the H.Q. dugout Lieutenant-Colonel Hadow, the English officer commanding the Newfoundland Battalion, received his order by phone. These were simple. The Newfoundlanders were to leave their present position as soon as possible and advance to the German front line. The 1 st Essex, on their right, would also attack. Hadow asked questions: Were the German trenches held by British or Germans? He was told the situation was uncertain. Colonel Hadow must have been unhappy, but he had been given a direct order. He gave out his own orders and in a few moments the battalion was ready. The Newfoundland Battalion leaves the reserve lines The Newfoundlanders had to go 300m before reaching the British front line and then a similar distance across No Man's Land. In view of the urgency of their orders they climbed out of their reserve trench and advanced in the open, instead of going to the front line by way of the congested communication trenches. As soon as they appeared in the open, the German machine-gunners spotted them and opened fire. No artillery bombardment kept the Germans' heads down; no other targets distracted them. They concentrated their fire on the 752 Newfoundlanders advancing over open ground less than half a mile away. Before the men could even get into No Man's Land they had to pass through several belts of barbed wire, the German machine-gunners found their best killing ground. Dead and wounded men soon blocked every gap, but those still not hit struggled on, having to walk over their comrades' bodies. 28

29 The Newfoundland Battalion is destroyed More experienced or less resolute men might have given up and sought shelter in such impossible conditions but not the Newfoundlanders. Those who survived to reach No Man's Land continued toward the German trenches, but they had no chance. A few dozen men could not cross No Man's Land without any support in broad daylight and, inevitably, the German machine gun fire cut these down. The attack was watched by a survivor of an earlier attack from a nearby shell hole: 'On came the Newfoundlanders, a great body of men, but the fire intensified and they were wiped out in front of my eyes. I cursed the generals for their useless slaughter, they seemed to have no idea what was going on (Private F.H. Cameron, 1 st Kings Own Scottish Borderers). Only a handful of the Newfoundlanders reached the German wire. There they were shot. Counting the cost The attack had lasted forty minutes, rarely can a battalion have been so completely smashed in such a short time. Of those who had attacked ninety-one percent had become casualties - twenty six officers and 658 men. Every officer who had left the trenches had been killed or wounded. What had this battalion, which had sailed with such high hopes from St John's a year and a half earlier, achieved? It is probable that not a single German soldier was killed or wounded by their attack. After the First World War Ended In 1921, the Newfoundland Government purchased the land on which the Newfoundlanders had fought on 1 July, and in 1925 it was officially opened as a memorial site by Field Marshal Lord Haig, commander of the British Army at the Battle of the Somme. It is the largest battalion memorial on the Western Front, and the largest area of the Somme battlefield that has been preserved (see below for a photograph showing some of the preserved trenches in the park). The park contains the Newfoundland Caribou Memorial, which surmounts the Commonwealth War Graves Commission s Newfoundland Memorial to the Missing, commemorating all Newfoundland service personnel of the First World War who have no known grave. Those killed on 1 st July 1916 with no known grave are amongst those named on it. There are three CWGC cemeteries within the park, and a memorial to 51st (Highland) Division who eventually captured the village of Beaumont-Hamel in November Another feature of the park is a replica of the danger tree used as a battlefield landmark by troops, marking the place in no man's land where many Newfoundlanders were killed. 29

30 The Caribou, an animal native to Newfoundland, features on the badge of the Newfoundland Regiment. This statue is at the top of the Newfoundland Memorial to the Missing in Newfoundland Park. The CWGC s Hunters Cemetery. Also in the park are Hawthorn Ridge Cemetery No.2, and Y Ravine Cemetery. The 51 st Highland Division memorial can be seen behind the cemetery. 30

31 The Opening of Newfoundland Memorial in 1925 The Visitors Centre at Newfoundland Park, opened on 1 st July

32 The centre was made to look like a typical Newfoundland timber house Section 2: Australia The Australian Imperial Force (AIF) and the Somme After the First World War broke out in 1914 large numbers of Australians volunteered to join the army. After basic training they were shipped out and disembarked in Egypt where their training continued. In 1915 they took part in the Allied invasion of the Turkish coast - the aim was to defeat Germany's ally, Turkey. The Gallipoli Campaign, as the invasion became known, started on the 25 th April but it quickly started to go wrong with the Turkish soldiers providing much greater resistance than expected. Casualties were very high on both sides and in January 1916 all the Allied troops were evacuated as the campaign was called off. The Gallipoli Campaign had ended in complete failure though the sacrifice made by the Australia and New Zealand soldiers has never been forgotten back home. Every year, the 25 th of April in Australia and New Zealand is remembered as Anzac Day and is a national day of remembrance and commemoration as well as a public holiday. 32

33 Table 1: Gallipoli casualties (not including illness) Missing & Dead Wounded Prisoners Total Ottoman Empire (Turkey) 56, ,007 11, ,828 United Kingdom 34,072 78,520 7, ,246 France 9,798 17,371-27,169 Australia 8,709 19,441-28,150 New Zealand 2,721 4,752-7,473 British India 1,358 3,421-4,779 Newfoundland Total Allies 56, ,598 7, ,959 Following the evacuation from Gallipoli, soldiers from Australian were sent to France and became involved in the Battle of the Somme. They did not take part in the opening battle but towards the end of July 1916 went into action to capture the German lines around the small village of Pozières, halfway between Albert and Bapaume. The Battle of Pozières The battle was a two-week struggle for German positions in and around the village of Pozières on the Somme and took place in August It was mainly a battle between the Australian and German forces and the fighting eventually ended with the Australians capturing the plateau north and east of the village. The cost was huge for both sides and in the words of the Australian journalist Charles Bean, the Pozières ridge "is more densely sown with Australian sacrifice than any other place on earth." AWM EZ0098. A fatigue party from the Australian 7th Brigade (Australian 2nd Division) pass the former German bunker known as "Gibraltar" at the western end of Pozières, 28 August

34 Australian Casualties The 4 th August 1916 The nurse said with some credibility that they were making room for Australians. That was the arrangement - clear the Australian hospitals (in northern France) for Australian casualties. In suddenly warm weather and over a day and a half, convoy by convoy, the Australians did indeed arrive - up to a thousand (casualties) a day. They were nearly too numerous. The men arrived with a word on their lips - Pozieres. It might have been a village but it was vast in their minds: the birthplace of their pain. By early August of that year the wards were crammed with Australians. - From The Daughters of Mars, a novel by Thomas Keneallly (2012) The Australian forces in Pozieres were shelled by the Germans as they tried to re-capture the village. The bombardment, whether measured by the loss inflicted or by the destruction of the trenches was heavier than most of the battalions engaged in and ever again were to experience. In one day and two nights the 48 th Battalion had lost, mainly by shell-fire, 20 officers and 578 men, and the 45th south of the road, by shell-fire alone, 5 officers and 340 men. After this action only four men remained unwounded in Jacka's platoon of the 14 th. The platoon of Lieutenant Dobbie, who was killed, suffered almost as much. - From The AIF in France Official History by Charles Bean (1941) Pozières Battlefield in 1916 Scene on the battlefield at Pozieres, 20th September IWM (Q 1088) 34

35 Australian Losses at Pozieres Three Australian divisions fought on the Somme in 1916, each made up of about 15,000 men when they went into action. After the First World War Ended Charles Bean and the Australian War Memorial Wounded, missing, killed 1 st Australian Division 7,700 2 nd Australian Division 8,100 4 th Australian Division 7,100 Charles Bean was a journalist and he managed to get to the Pozières battlefield shortly after the fighting had stopped. Despite the constant danger, he visited as much of it as he could. He was shocked at the devastation he saw. Bean became convinced of the need to tell people in faraway Australia of the achievements, endurance and suffering of the soldiers in France. Bean's dream eventually resulted in the building of the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. Bean's companion, Charles Bazley, remembers him thinking about this future memorial: I can still remember nights in August 1916 when - after busy days in which he tramped the Pozieres battlefield, visiting our units in the line and our batteries in rear of them, looking in at aid-posts and casualty clearing stations he would return to our camp at the edge of Becourt Wood... there he would sometimes talk about building an Australian war memorial museum. Charles Bazley, quoted in Dudley McCarthy, Gallipoli to the Somme: the Story of CEW Bean (1983) Memorial to the Australian 1 st Division on the Somme 35

36 The Commemoration on the Memorial The CWGC s Villers-Bretonneux Memorial & Australian National Memorial Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery in the foreground 36

37 Key Stage 3 Section 4 What was the cost of the Battle of the Somme? The Battle of the Somme ended in November 1916 and in those 5 months the British line had advanced about halfway to the town of Bapaume. Across a front of approximately 20 miles, the furthest the line had moved forward was 6 miles. Some places like Serre which had been targets for some of the Pals Battalions on the first day, remained in German hands. Although ground gained isn t the only way to measure success or failure for an offensive, this does indicate that the Allies had not achieved all that they set out to. Map 1 below shows exactly how far the British and Allied forces moved forward during the Battle - look at the difference between the British front line on the 1 st July and the 19 th November. Map 1 37

38 The loss of men during the Battle was huge. The British and Commonwealth casualties (killed, wounded and missing) amounted to 420,000 men and the total German losses are estimated to be between 437,000 and 680,000. Often, works in English about the battle overlook the French role in the battle, and French losses. These amounted to 204,000. The Battle of Verdun, fought in the same year, resulted in the French and Germans suffering over 300,000 casualties each. There was also an enormous personal cost - many villages, towns and cities in Britain were affected by the losses at the Battle of the Somme, especially communities that had raised Pals battalions. The cost of the Somme might be measured in other ways. In 1914 Britain's National Debt amounted to 700 million, in July 1916 this had risen to 2,500 million. By the end of the War it had risen to 7,500 million. Put another way 75% of the cost of the War was incurred after July Given the scale of the losses and the huge cost how might you measure the impact of the Battle of the Somme? The Battle of the Somme did not result in victory for the Allies over the Germans. The First World War dragged on for a further two years and losses continued to mount. To many it must appear that the Generals learnt nothing from the Somme, that they had no way to end the stalemate and that soldiers continued to die for no good reason. This stalemate has been described as a war of attrition, the gradual wearing down of the enemy to the point where one side would not have the men or resources to continue the fight. Our understanding of the War has changed over time and historians and others have argued about the effectiveness of the generals and the British and Commonwealth forces. Task 1 Using the information above - do you think the Battle of the Somme was worth fighting? Was anyone to blame for the losses and the cost? How was the outcome of the Battle of the Somme viewed at the time? Source 1: What was the view of Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, Commander in Chief of the British Armies in France and Flanders? 38

39 a) The aim of the Battle of the Somme General Headquarters, 23rd December, My Lord, I have the honour to submit the following report on the operations of the Forces under my Command since the 19th May, the date of my last Despatch. The object of that offensive was threefold: (i.) To relieve the pressure on Verdun, (ii.) To assist our Allies in the other theatres of war by stopping any further transfer of German troops from the Western front. (iii.) To wear down the strength of the forces opposed to us. b) Tactics Our lines were pushed forward wherever possible by means of local attacks and by bombing and sapping, and the enemy was driven out of various forward positions. By these means many gains were made which, though small in themselves, represented very considerable advances. In this way our line was brought to the crest of the ridge above Pozieres. c) Achieving the objectives The three main objects with which we had commenced our offensive in July had already been achieved at the date when this account closes. Verdun had been relieved; the main German forces had been held on the Western Front; and the enemy's strength had been very considerably worn down. Any one of these three results is in itself sufficient to justify the Somme battle. The attainment of all three of them affords ample compensation for the splendid efforts of our troops and for the sacrifices made by ourselves and our Allies. They have brought us a long step forward towards the final victory of the Allied cause. d) In conclusion: a victory? The enemy's power has not yet been broken, nor is it yet possible to form an estimate of the time the War may last before the objects for which the Allies are fighting have been attained. But the Somme battle has placed beyond doubt the ability of the Allies to gain those objects. The German Army is the mainstay of the Central Powers, and a full half of that Army, despite all the advantages of the defensive, supported by the strongest fortifications, suffered defeat on the Somme this year. 39

40 Source 2: What did the soldiers who fought in the Battle think? January 1 st The Somme Despatch is enlightening as an expression of the views of GHQ, which differ from those of the infantry - notably on the fighting quality and moral of the enemy's formations. The German is not what he was, but his falling off seems, on contact, to be no greater than ours. Without our superiority in guns where would we be? The French seem to be far ahead of us in recent attack technique and formation, and the co-ordination of rile-grenade and automatic rifle fire. From The War the Infantry Knew by Captain J C Dunn (a first-hand account, but published 1987) Source 3: What was the German experience of the Somme? This account describes a day long bombardment of German positions on the Somme in September No sooner had day broken when than low flying RAF plane whirled towards us, while we fled into our holes and huddled together the sharp eyed observed must have seen something because before long one heavy low arching shell after another came barging along with incredible force. We sat helplessly in our refuges, prepared at any moment to find ourselves buried. With only the third shell the fellow in the hole next to ours was buried by an enormous explosion. At three in the afternoon my sentries came to me from the left and stated that they were unable to hold out where they were any longer as their holes had been shot away. I had to display my full authority to get them back to their stations. From Storm of Steel by Ernst Junger (1920) 40

41 Source 4: Remains of German trenches in Delville Wood, September The impact of the heavy shelling described by Ernst Junger in Source 3. IWM (Q 4267) Task 2 How did Haig describe the outcome of the Battle? Did the soldiers on the ground agree with him? How has the outcome of the Battle of the Somme been viewed by historians since 1916? Several books written by historians have influenced the way the Battle of the Somme has been viewed by the general public. To many the Battle of the Somme and much of the First World War is seen as bloody and futile, and that the blame for the enormous loss of life lies firmly with the Generals who are portrayed as callous, stubborn and incompetent. 41