Title

The Battle of the Somme, 1916

Caption

The Battle of the Somme (French: Bataille de la Somme, German: Schlacht an der Somme), also known as the Somme Offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British and French empires against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 November 1916 on both sides of the River Somme in France. The battle was one of the largest of World War I, in which more than 1,000,000 men were wounded or killed, making it one of the bloodiest battles in human history. A Franco-British commitment to an offensive on the Somme had been made during Allied discussions at Chantilly, Oise, in December 1915. The Allies agreed upon a strategy of combined offensives against the Central Powers in 1916, by the French, Russian, British, and Italian armies, with the Somme offensive as the Franco-British contribution. The main part of the offensive was to be made by the French Army, supported on the northern flank by the Fourth Army of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF).
(Picture shows) Battle of Ginchy troops move up in single file to support the attack. In the foreground a solider ducks as an artillery shell detonates close by.
8th September 1916

Info+

Mirrorpix

Date

Sep 08, 1916

Credit line

Photo12/Mirrorpix

Reference

MPX15A01_045

License type

Rights managed

Available size

60,2Mb (7,3Mb) / 18,2in x 12,9in / 5457 x 3857 (300dpi)

Keywords

World War I WWI First World War Battle of the Somme 20th century France French 1910's 1916 20th Century Allied Army Battle British B.E.F. French Explosion First World War German Empire Shelling Soldiers The Battle of the Somme Troops World War One WWI