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Battle of the Somme
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Battle of the Somme

by Andrew Curry

Battle of the Somme

Trench warfare made sense, in theory.

Trench warfare made sense, in theory. Use artillery to pound the enemy's trenches to jelly, then send your own soldiers strolling across no-man's-land to score an easy win. That was the game plan, anyway. Take the Somme, perhaps the defining battle of the First World War: British general Sir Douglas Haig ordered a week of shelling to soften up the German lines in June 1916. British gunners sent 1.7 million shells - 12,000 tons' worth of shrapnel and high explosives -- whistling down on German trenches.

The problem was the German generals were using the same playbook. For more than a year, they had been reinforcing their positions, building sturdy concrete bunkers and deep trench systems. Instead of destroying the German defenses, the British bombardment simply let the well-fortified Germans know an attack was imminent. When the artillery fire stopped, German machine-gunners emerged and prepared a devastating welcome for the British infantry.

Continuing reading about the Battle of the Somme with Futility of Trench Warfare.