The Somme, 1916: the bloodiest summer

By the numbers
Side	Strength	Casualties	Killed
Britain and France	~750,000	~620,000	~146,000
German Empire	~500,000	~465,000	~164,000

By the numbers

Side

Strength

Casualties

Killed

Britain and France

~750,000

~620,000

~146,000

German Empire

~500,000

~465,000

~164,000

Quick answer

The Battle of the Somme, fought from July to November 1916, ended in minimal Allied gains at a cost of around a million men killed and wounded on both sides. It gained a few miles of shattered ground over four and a half months and has stood ever since as the symbol of the First World War's industrial slaughter.

From 1 July to 18 November 1916, along the river Somme in northern France, one of the largest and costliest battles in history ground on for four and a half months. It gained a few miles of shattered ground at a cost of around a million killed and wounded¹, and it has stood ever since as the symbol of the First World War's industrial slaughter.

The plan

The Somme was meant to be the great Anglo-French push that would break the German line, and also to draw pressure away from the French bleeding at Verdun². A bombardment of unheard-of size hammered the German trenches for a week.³ Yet much of the wire was left uncut³ and the deep German dugouts survived.

Sepia photograph of gunners loading a huge howitzer among shattered trees — A British 15 inch howitzer being reloaded in action in 1916, perhaps during the preliminary bombardment of the Somme, photographed by the Canadian official photographer Ivor Castle. Public domain

The first day

On 1 July the British infantry climbed from their trenches and advanced into machine-gun fire. By nightfall they had suffered around 57,000 casualties, some 19,000 of them dead¹, the bloodiest single day in the history of the British army⁴.

Black and white photograph of British soldiers in steel helmets resting in a trench — A ration party of the Royal Irish Rifles in a communication trench during the Battle of the Somme, believed to have been taken on the first day, 1 July 1916. Public domain

Nearly sixty thousand were killed, wounded or missing in a single day, and the battle had months yet to run.

Months of attrition

The offensive did not stop. Through the summer and autumn the advance was measured in yards, village by ruined village. On 15 September, at Flers-Courcelette, a new weapon crawled³ across no man's land for the first time: the tank.

Black and white photograph of an early rhomboid British tank with a wire screen on top on churned ground — A British Mark I tank, C-15, near Thiepval on 25 September 1916, ten days after tanks first went into action at Flers-Courcelette. Photograph by Ernest Brooks. Public domain

What the day decided

When the fighting finally died in the November mud, the front had barely moved. But the German army had been worn down as never before², and its commanders admitted the losses could not be replaced. The Somme changed how the world imagined war, and the memory of its first day has never faded.

Coloured military map of the Somme front with the starting line and the limit of the Allied advance — Péronne and vicinity, 1916: a US Army map of the Battle of the Somme showing the front on 1 July 1916 and the Allied gains through 18 November 1916. Public domain

The long shadow of the Somme

No battle did more to fix the image of the First World War as futile slaughter. Over four and a half months the offensive advanced the line only a few miles¹ at a cost of more than a million casualties on all sides. It was here, in September 1916, that the tank made its combat debut, a weapon that would mature only later in the war. For Britain the first day, with nearly sixty thousand casualties, remains the worst in the history of its army, and the Somme became shorthand for a generation fed into the guns. Its true legacy was grim education: both sides left it having learned, in blood, how the next battles would have to be fought.

Frequently asked questions

Why is the Battle of the Somme remembered as a symbol of industrial slaughter?

The Battle of the Somme in 1916 gained only a few miles of shattered ground at a cost of around a million killed and wounded, and it has stood ever since as the symbol of the First World War's industrial slaughter.

What went wrong with the plan on the Somme?

On the Somme in 1916 a bombardment of unheard-of size hammered the German trenches for a week, yet much of the wire was left uncut and the deep German dugouts survived, so the infantry advanced into defences that were still intact.

Why was the first day of the Somme so catastrophic?

On the first day of the Somme, 1 July 1916, the British infantry advanced into machine-gun fire and suffered around 57,000 casualties, some 19,000 of them dead, the bloodiest single day in the history of the British army.

What new weapon first appeared on the Somme?

During the Battle of the Somme in 1916, at Flers-Courcelette on 15 September, the tank crawled across no man's land for the first time in history.

What did the Battle of the Somme actually achieve?

When the Somme ended in November 1916 the front had barely moved, but the German army had been worn down as never before and its commanders admitted the losses could not be replaced.

Who won the Battle of the Somme?

The Battle of the Somme in 1916 was an indecisive battle of attrition, since after four and a half months the front had barely moved and neither side achieved a breakthrough. Even so, the German army had been worn down as never before, and its commanders admitted the losses could not be replaced.

How many people died at the Somme?

Precise figures are debated, but the Battle of the Somme in 1916 cost around a million men killed and wounded on all sides across four and a half months of fighting. The first day alone, 1 July 1916, brought the British army around 57,000 casualties, some 19,000 of them dead.

Sources and notes

Numbered notes in the text point to the works below.

Imperial War Museums, “Battle of the Somme” ↩ a b c

William Philpott, Bloody Victory: The Sacrifice on the Somme and the Making of the Twentieth Century (Little, Brown, 2009). ↩ a b

National Army Museum, “Battle of the Somme” ↩ a b c

Martin Middlebrook, The First Day on the Somme: 1 July 1916 (Allen Lane, 1971). ↩

Wikipedia, “Battle of the Somme”