The Somme -The news about 8am was not altogether good...

Statement made by Sir Douglas Haig on July 1st, the first day of his much hoped for 'big push'. What he actually means is that 20,000 men had become casualties already - after 30 mins. The first day alone cost 60,000 casualties. By the time it was finally called off in November 1916 the British had lost 400,000. Total casualties including Commonwealth, French and German were an almost unbelievable 1.2 million. For a gain of about 10km.

Touring the battlefield today leaves you a bit numb at the end. Every few 100 metres there are memorials or cemeteries. They just keep on coming. The Thiepval memorial dominates the skyline for miles around. On it are 70,000 plus names of people who just disappeared. No body ever found. Their names are engraved on it. It is huge.

 

The visitor centre has a very moving photographic display that puts faces to some of these names.

 

 





The following few posts will highlight a few of the sites whose names would never have been known to most Brits, Aussies, Canadians and South Africans who ended up dying in their thousands to try and capture them.