Battles On The Western Front
THE SOMME IN NORTHERN FRANCE
The Battle of the Somme (July to November 1916) was another doomed attempt at breaking the stalemate on the Western Front. The British plan, coordinated by General Sir Douglas Haig, was to launch a major attack on German lines in the Somme River valley. The assault would begin with an intense artillery bombardment of German defences. Then, 1 200 000 soldiers would advance in wave formations along a 40-kilometre front. The aim was to cut the Germans off from behind and make them so demoralised that they would surrender.
The Germans had weeks of forewarning through:
· overheard field telephone messages
· the movements of British reconnaissance aircraft
· the observations of their own pilots.
When the attack began on 1 July 1916:
· German defences were well prepared
· British mines went off too early and alerted the Germans that the attack was due to start
· British artillery fire failed to destroy the barbed wire protecting the German trenches.
When the soldiers advanced into no-man's-land, they advanced into a non-stop barrage of German machine-gun fire. They became easy targets as their attempts to pass through the German barbed wire only made them become more entangled in it. The Allied troops did not have the machine-gun power needed to respond effectively. On the first day, the Germans killed over 20 000 Allied troops and wounded 40 000.
The attack failed to achieve a large-scale breakthrough, and tactics focused instead on raids on specific enemy targets. One of these was the town of Pozières. The Australian First Division had the task of capturing the German-held town. This was achieved in a few hours on 23 July 1916, but it took another seven weeks of horrific fighting against ongoing German artillery fire to consolidate the gain. By this time, three more Australian divisions had become involved.
In July 1916, there were 90 000 AIF soldiers serving on the Western Front. The Australian soldiers' reputation for reckless independence often resulted in their being chosen to lead the attacks. By the end of August 1916, there were 23 000 Australian casualties from the Somme battlefields — nearly as many as for the entire eight months at Gallipoli. All this was for a gain of about 1.5 kilometres. By the end of the Somme campaign, the AIF had lost more than 32 000 soldiers, with an overall gain in land of about 10.5 kilometres. Neither the average Australian soldier nor the average British soldier had much faith in their military leaders after this.
Answer:
1. Outline the goal and plan of the Somme offensive.
2. List the reasons for its failure.