https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/battle-of-the-somme-begins
Posted on 06/30/2022 3:36:00 PM PDT by DFG
The brutal horror of the Battle of the Somme is unveiled in colourised photos released ahead of the 106th anniversary of World War One, with July 1st marking the start of the battle.
The battle was one of the most bloody of World War One which saw such figures as JRR Tolkien, British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, Otto Frank - the father of Anne Frank - and Adolf Hitler fight in the battle.
Over three million men fought in the battle which saw over a million killed or injured, scarring the earth in one of the deadliest battles in human history.
On the first day of the Somme, the German 2nd Army suffered a severe defeat. It was the first World War One battle to see tanks brought to the battlefield.
Despite a decisive victory, 57,470 casualties were confirmed by the British, including 19,240 deaths - marking the largest loss of life suffered by the British Army in one day.
Hitler would ultimately receive a leg wound, while Tolkien developed trench fever and had to be taken to a military hospital.
By the end of the battle, the British and French had gained 10 kilometres of German-occupied territory, the largest gain since the First Battle of the Marne in 1914, revealing the slow and excruciatingly slow pace of the bloody war.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/battle-of-the-somme-begins
Never forgotten..
The 36th Ulster Division.
I remember well when my Grampa would talk about fighting in the trenches during WWI. He was gassed with mustard gas and the food trucks were blown up faster than they could arrive. Also the bodies in the field were moving because of the maggots and gasses. It was truly hell on earth. He had a giant crater in his calf from a German Mauser but didn’t seem to affect his gate. I miss him terribly.
Looks like the trenches in Ukraine ...
As my grandad said: lions led by donkeys; the generals stayed way back behind the lines and hadn’t a clue as to what was happening.
All wars since, are a direct result of that war and the peace deal that came out of it.
Just in case the black and white photos weren't grim enough...
A human meatgrinder.
My history professor in university referred to the Somme as “the great f%$k up” during a lecture one day.
(the generals stayed way back)
In the rear, with the gear
British disaster 🤪
The war to end all wars and still we fight
Was it Kitchener that someone finally talked into going to the front line. Trenches right after a battle for the first time, a year or two after it started. Of course post ordering 100s of thousands to their death.’’ They say he almost got sick and said something like “I had no idea it was this bad”.
War pigs….
Wonderfully friendly to me. Gee, how I miss them.
Anyone wishing to see at truly amazing documentary on WW I, watch They Shall Not Grow Old, produced by Peter Jackson. Colorized film, and also determined what the soldiers were saying, and had actor voice their words. The narration was from actual soldiers who served during WWI. They were interviewed as a vast project to save the personal history of the troopers who fought in the war.
It’s said the Battle of the Somme was Tolkien’s inspiration for Mordor.
Yes indeed, the war to end all wars-— set up another World War and the near continuous aftermath wars Cold, and sometimes Hot. All caused by the same machinery that brought us to today— highly profitable machinery.
If one has time there is this very well done “The Fall of the Eagles” about the causality and reality of WWI, the Fall of The Romanovs and the destruction of Germany that led to blowback to Germany of the Communists (thus “needing” the National Socialists to defeat the unions who outnumbered everyone.
The Fall of Eagles- 14 BBC episodes well done:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wo21LRTc1Uc&list=PLc6nRGBJOjtERqVfIpPck0_YdFWwWfgsT
What I see in the photos is not really horror, but misery.
“Forward, he cried, from the rear,
and the front ranks died.
The general sat, and the lines on the map,
moved from side to side.”
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