The Somme

The Somme was an unfortunate victim of WW1, most notably for being the location of one of the bloodiest battles in human history in 1916.

On 1st July, after a week-long artillery barrage, the Allied forces attempted to break through the German lines along a 25 mile front.

The German troops, having anticipated the attack, had consolidated their position and escaped to underground shelters.

Believing that they had obliterated the enemy, British troops slowly approached the German lines, and thus was the beginning of the massacre that was the Battle of the Somme.

60,000 British and commonwealth troops died and 20,000 were wounded or missing on the first day of the battle, mainly within the first hour.

Later on in the war in March and April 1918, the British line on the Somme Front was again attacked by the German Army, until the Allied forces gradually pushed it out of its defensive positions during the Second Battle of the Somme in August 1918.

Today, this horrific period in history can be explored and envisaged along the Circuit of Remembrance, which takes you to impressive memorials, remains of battlefields and beautifully maintained cemeteries, and all the significant war sites of the Somme.

Key sites to visit in the Somme