The Battle of the Somme
Why did the British plan on the Somme fail on 1 July 1916?
Initially anticipated to be a conclusive advance to end the stalemate, the Battle of Somme, unknowingly at the time, would instead come to be recognised as an unavailing and indiscriminate killing of British soldiers. The battle itself was one of, if not the largest battle in World War I, and consequently one of the bloodiest battles in humanity, which epitomised the futile nature of trench warfare .The Battle of Somme, in many regards, was a military catastrophe of unprecedented proportions, as a result flaws in many aspects of the British offensive plan, with some preordained miscalculations, as well as some unforeseeable problems, which collaboratively contributed to the failure of the British plan on the Somme, and especially the significant loss on the First Day of the Somme.
An integral part of the British Offensive on the Somme, the five day extensive artillery bombardment was imperative to ensure the overall success of the …show more content…
The telephone was impractical and costly to the success of their offensive plan. 50,000 metres of telephone cable was unraveled, however, beyond the front, the cable laid on the battlefield were utterly useless, as they were instantly destroyed by shells. The Germans did not suffer these problems. Even for gunners to distinguish between friend or foe, relied on inaccurate means of communication, where British soldiers were ordered to wear pieces of tin on their back, in order to avoid being shot at by own men. Commanders, in previous battles, were on horse-back directly in view of the operation, however, this was not the case with these generals, and there was effectively no direct real time contact. If the infantry were too slow or too fast, the plan would simply fall apart. This lack of communication led to many errors in the execution of
Why did the British plan on the Somme fail on 1 July 1916?
Initially anticipated to be a conclusive advance to end the stalemate, the Battle of Somme, unknowingly at the time, would instead come to be recognised as an unavailing and indiscriminate killing of British soldiers. The battle itself was one of, if not the largest battle in World War I, and consequently one of the bloodiest battles in humanity, which epitomised the futile nature of trench warfare .The Battle of Somme, in many regards, was a military catastrophe of unprecedented proportions, as a result flaws in many aspects of the British offensive plan, with some preordained miscalculations, as well as some unforeseeable problems, which collaboratively contributed to the failure of the British plan on the Somme, and especially the significant loss on the First Day of the Somme.
An integral part of the British Offensive on the Somme, the five day extensive artillery bombardment was imperative to ensure the overall success of the …show more content…
The telephone was impractical and costly to the success of their offensive plan. 50,000 metres of telephone cable was unraveled, however, beyond the front, the cable laid on the battlefield were utterly useless, as they were instantly destroyed by shells. The Germans did not suffer these problems. Even for gunners to distinguish between friend or foe, relied on inaccurate means of communication, where British soldiers were ordered to wear pieces of tin on their back, in order to avoid being shot at by own men. Commanders, in previous battles, were on horse-back directly in view of the operation, however, this was not the case with these generals, and there was effectively no direct real time contact. If the infantry were too slow or too fast, the plan would simply fall apart. This lack of communication led to many errors in the execution of