The WWI Battle of the Somme offensive starts after a week long artillery bombardment. Planned as a joint operation between British and French forces to break the deadlock on the Western Front. But due to the German attack on the French at Verdun, Britain and its Empire took the lead on the Somme. The battle continue until November 13, 1916. It was a costly and largely unsuccessful Allied offensive on the Western front. The horrific bloodshed on the first day of the battle became a metaphor for the loss and apparent futility of the First World War. By the end of the first day of the battle more than 20,000 British soldiers were killed in action and 40,000 wounded marking the heaviest day’s loss that a British army had ever suffered. Four months later the Allies had advanced just five miles.
Photo: Lt Geoffrey Malins filming the preliminary bombardment of the First Day of the Battle of the Somme, July 1st 1916. Malins shots became part of the documentary film The Battle of the Somme. Public Domain.
Source: How I Filmed the War :- A Record of the Extraordinary Experiences of the Man Who Filmed the Great Somme Battles, etc. Jenkins, London 1920
Author Geoffrey H. Malins (1886-1940)
