The Somme
July - November 1916
Just to the north of Albert lie the main battlefields of the Somme.
Driving from Albert north east towards Bapaume along the intended line of advance, the memorial at Thiepval is easily visible on the left.
The road is marked with a number of signs showing the extent of the advance.
They never did reach Bapaume that year.
Thiepval Memorial and Visitor Centre
On the morning of 1 July 1916 the allied guns poured 250,000 shells into the German lines within the space of an hour. Famously reported, the barrage is said to have been so loud that it could be heard on Hampstead Heath in London.
At 0728 hours ten mines were detonated along the front and within minutes the British and French troops began their attack along a 25 mile front.
One of the more easily visited craters is the Lochnagar crater at La Boisselle on the opposite side of the Albert - Bapaume Road from Thiepval.
The
Lochnagar Mine
It is sign posted as La Grande Mine. It was created by a total of 60,000 lbs of explosives and was the largest on the Western Front, the shock wave being felt for huge distances.
What had not been foreseen was the fact that the Germans in their armoured emplacements had hardly been touched by the bombardment, and that they would realise that it was merely the prelude for the ensuing attack. As the British advanced they were met with murderous fire from the German machine gun emplacements.
Soldiers at the time carried an enormous amount of equipment as they advanced: rifle, ammunition, grenades, empty sandbags, pick or shovel, rations and water bottle plus mess tin, steel helmet, gas masks, a pair of goggles, and a waterproof cape in case it rained! This made it impossible to move quickly and left you an easy target for fixed machine guns.
Military
Orders: Equipment
There were hundreds of German machine guns lined up against the advancing troops and they were finding targets with consummate ease. In many cases the advancing line was forced to try and negotiate through narrow gaps in their own barbed wire and this left them standing targets.
The cost of this first days attack was the greatest during the entire war, with 21 000 killed and 25 000 wounded.
It was the worst disaster ever to befall the British Army.
The initial plan had been to reach Peronne and Bapaume on the first day. A distance of about 16km (10 miles). The reality of the first day was a partial advance in places of about 300m.
This for the men of the 36th Ulster Division was the equivalent of marching from Armagh to Portadown, but only managing the length of the Mall, whilst the ill fated Newfoundland Regiment was wiped out within 30 minutes.
The detonation of the Hawthorn Mine was responsible for the entire attack by 29th Division crumbling. The famous war film showing men of the Lancashire Fusiliers in the Sunken Road behind Hawthorn Ridge, unwittingly recorded men who were going to suffer heavy casualties rather than sweep the field.
Astride the main Albert to Bapaume Road, troops were trying to capture the fortified villages of Ovillers on the left, and La Boisselle just to the right. Further on and situated along the ridge of the main road lies Pozières. It was to hold out for weeks and become a place of pilgrimage for future generations of Australians.
Elsewhere on the right of the main road the fighting was just as fierce, and soon names such as Mametz and Delville had become common knowledge to all.
The first day of the Somme marked the 132nd day of the Battle for Verdun in the east, and whilst failing to take the ground intended, the battle did succeed in drawing off thousands of German soldiers away from Verdun.
A second battle rages in history as to whether the result was worth the cost in human life.