The first day on the somme / Martin Middlebrook.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Middlebrook, Martin, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Somme, 1st Battle of the, France, 1916.

Somme, 1st Battle of the, France, 1916--Personal narratives.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (306 pages) : illustrations, maps

Place of Publication:

Barnsley, [England] : Pen & Sword Military, 2003.

Summary:

A history of the British Army's experience at the Battle of the Somme in France during World War I. After an immense but useless bombardment, at 7: 30 AM on July 1, 1916, the British Army went over the top and attacked the German trenches. 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, July 1, 1916, was the blackest day in the history of the British Army. But, more than that, as Lloyd George recognized, 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 be won. Martin Middlebrook's 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 overall strategic view and the terrifying reality that it was for front-line soldiers. Revised in 2016 from the 1971 original edition. Praise for The First Day on the Somme "The remembrance of those lives, difficult as it may be, will start in earnest now, with this wonderful book. It's almost like being there yourself... enough said."- Books Monthly (UK)

Contents:

The men

The Western Front

The Somme and the Germans

The plan

The preparations

The last few hours

Zero hour

Review at 8:30 A.M.

The morning

Review at noon

The afternoon

Review at dusk

The night

The aftermath

The cost

An analysis

The years that followed

Appendices: Order of battle of the British Infantry units

Order of battle of German Divisions facing the British attack

Senior officer casualties

Victoria Cross winners of 1 July 1916

Battalions suffering more than 500 casualties

A tour of the Somme Battlefield.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed July 11, 2016).

ISBN:

9781473877184

1473877180