Battle of the Somme - Real Footage

Comprising the main Allied attack on the Western Front during 1916, the Battle of the Somme is famous chiefly on account of the loss of 58,000 British troops (one third of them killed) on the first day of the battle, 1 July 1916, which to this day remains a one-day record. The attack was launched upon a 30 kilometre front, from north of the Somme river between Arras and Albert, and ran from 1 July until 18 November, at which point it was called off.

The second battle of the Somme, 21 March-4 April 1918, was the first of General Ludendorff’s five great offensives launched during the spring and summer of 1918. At the start of 1918 The collapse of Russia gave the Germans a temporary numerical advantage on the Western Front, but millions of American soldiers were on their way to Europe. 318,000 American soldiers were already in France by May 1918, and another million arrived before August.