The First Day on the Somme

by Middlebrook, Martin

• ISBN13: 9780850529432
• ISBN10: 0850529433
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-03-01
• Publisher: Pen & Sword

Summary

After an immense but useless bombardment, at 7.30 am on 1 July 1916 the British Army went over the top and attacked the German senches. It was the first day of the battle of the Somme, and on that day the British suffered nearly 60,000 casualties, two for every yard of their front. With more than fifty times the daily losses at El Alamein and fifteen times the British casualties on D-day, 1 July 1916 was the blackest day in the history of the British Army. But, more than that, it was a watershed in the history of the First World War. The Army that attacked on that day was the volunteer Army that had answered Kitchener's call. It had gone into action confident of a decisive victory. But by sunset on the first day on the Somme, no one could any longer think of a war that might he won. After that it was a struggle that had simply to be endured. Martin Middlebrooks research has covered not just official and regimental histories and tours of the battlefields, but interviews with hundreds of survivors, both British and German. As to the action itself, he conveys the

Table of Contents

List of Maps	vi
List of Plates	vii
Abbreviations	ix
The Men	xi
Author's Preface to Replica Edition	xiii
Introduction	xv
The Men	1	(28)
The Western Front	29	(24)
The Somme and the Germans	53	(14)
The Plan	67	(13)
The Preparations	80	(27)
The Last Few Hours	107	(15)
Zero Hour	122	(24)
Review at 8.30 A.M.	146	(13)
The Morning	159	(34)
Review at Noon	193	(12)
The Afternoon	205	(21)
Review at Dusk	226	(10)
The Night	236	(8)
The Aftermath	244	(18)
The Cost	262	(10)
An Analysis	272	(21)
The Years that Followed	293	(24)
Appendix 1 Order of Battle of British Infantry Units	317	(8)
Appendix 2 Order of Battle of German Divisions Facing the British Attack	325	(1)
Appendix 3 Senior Officer Casualities	326	(3)
Appendix 4 Victoria Cross Winners of 1 July 1916	329	(1)
Appendix 5 Battalions Suffering More than 500 Casualities	330	(2)
Appendix 6 A Tour of the Somme Battlefield	332	(10)
Acknowledgements	342	(14)
Bibliography	356	(1)
Index	357