Battle of the Somme: The Deadliest Battle of WW1

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[mikebreaton]

"If you ever drive the motorways from Paris to Calais
and you're not in any rush to move along
just take a little side-trip through the green and the rolling hills
down through Vimy, Passchendaele, and to the Somme.
Stop your car and stand a while and listen to the wind
and you just might hear it sing the soldier's song.
A distant roll like thunder, and the muffled march of feet,
and a ghostly army singing this old song..."

[PL]

The first day of the Somme was devastating for Newfoundland. The (Royal) Newfoundland Regiment was fighting in Beaumont-Hamel. When they climbed out of the trenches, the German machine guns picked them off. Of the 780 who went to battle, only 68 answered the roll call the next day. They were essentially wiped out.
This is why Newfoundland observes Memorial Day on July 1st, the same day as Canada Day. The battle site is now a Canadian national historic site, one of only two sites outside Canada (the other being the Vimy Memorial).

[francispitts]

My Paternal Grandfather served in the Marine Corps during WW I. He saw a decent amount of action especially in Belleau Wood in June of 1918. I was fortunate enough to grow up with him and his account of history from the early 1900 through WW II and his return to service as a DI. I was always impressed by what Americans and European people went through during the war. Very difficult times.

[andyyang]

We should all be glad we were born after the world wars. What a horrible period of history

[MCR-M]

My Great Grandad went over the top 3 times at he the Somme and survived til the end of the war. Came back a changed man although he was still a good father to his 7 kids the light had gone from his eyes. He despised Churchill too, blamed him from getting his best friend killed at Gallipoli. Staunch Labour man too.

[LennoxMatt]

As a Canadian I'd love a video on Vimy Ridge, which is generally seen as the moment Canada distinguished itself from the British command. The monument there is considered Canadian sovereign land, and even Hitler ordered that the monument be preserved in WWII, himself laying a wreath at its base

[comradesionnach]

On the first day of the Somme, of the 800 men of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment who went forward, only 110 survived. Their losses were so great that in WWII Newfoundland couldn't field their own regiment.

[moritamikamikara]

My current town of residence, Salford (suburb of Manchester) was decimated by this battle.
A bunch of guys from Salford fought in the "Salford Pals" in the battle of the Somme, they were some of the first to go over the top.
There's a legend that two days after the battle started, a train pulled up in the station and a guy from the train called out "Is this Salford!?" and someone on the platform calls back "Yeah it is!" and train guy calls back "Your guys are all dead!" and then the train pulls out of the station and leaves.
Salford Pals had been almost entirely destroyed in the first few hours, and that was most of the young male population.
There aren't many Salforders left anymore, the suburb leans almost entirely on immigrants, that is to say usually University students like myself or entrepreneurs looking to make or work in businesses supporting the university.

[Gearparadummies]

I visited WWI's most prominent battlefields in 2017. The most humbling and horrifying things you can still see today in places like Verdun and Passchendaele is absence. What once stood there vanished not to ever return. Trees growing out of still visible craters where entire villages once stood and were all but wiped out by artillery barrages. Enormous graveyards filled with thousands of fallen soldiers. The Lochnagar Crater is pretty impressive even today. I recommend everyone interested in WWI to drive across those field. It is extremely educational as well as eye opening.

[hollieBlu]

I'll be honest... every WW1 documentary I have watched in the last 25 years just brings me immediately back to Blackadder Goes Fourth....that series finale...heart wrenching.

[paul]

The first 7 minutes of this video spent talking about the 1st day perfectly set up the rest of the video. The emphasis on lost life, the failures, and the successes set up the truly grand scale of this battle. This is one of my favorite history youtube channels right now for sure.

[ChristopherNFP]

Thank you for identifying Pozieres. A ferocious battle for the Australian 1st Division. Extraordinary bravery under heavy shelling.

The village and the adjoining Mouquet Farm deserves a full episode on their own.

[hanjitomoe-kiryuin]

After going to Belgium and seeing these places, as well as all the mass graveyards and memorials, I can never watch these kinds of videos without getting emotional.

Thank you Simon, and the whole Warographics crew for being so honest and frank about the massacre that was the Somme, and the impact it had

[shellshell]

The leader of the Australian army, General Sir John Monash, came up with a lot of battle strategies that were used for the first time in WW1. Scary thing is that he almost got pushed out of his job because he was Jewish and born to German parents. He even had to ask his family to write to him only in English because they were checking all his letters...imagine what a difference it could have made 🤔

[kingpin]

The British Army fired over a million shells a day for 3 days at the beginning of the Somme. The Germans responded by cutting entire corps when the charge came. It was a meat grinder.

[acarmory]

Another excellent video! Would love to see more videos about WW1.

[adamd]

Honestly, I would love a video on Belleau Wood. With it happening during the Spring Offensive, it would be very interesting in seeing how important it may have been for both sides

[matthewcasey]

I love the quote from Black Adder when General Melchett said the Tommy’s need something to boost their morale and Black Adder responded with, “General Haig’s resignation and suicide would be in order.”
More I’ve learned about his planning behind the Somme operation and planning, or lack there of, and insipid classism makes me realize just how true and accurate that statement really should have been.

[Shadooe]

7:20 Royal Newfoundland Regiment. On July 1st, 801 went over the top, 68 answered roll the next day The advance on Beaumont-Hamel was the one time in the entire war that the RNFLDR was assigned an objective and failed to reach it

[Iris_and_or_George]

Over 1m dead in 140 days.... over 7, 5k a day.... 5 every minute. Of all the wars ever, this is the one I'm glad i wasn't around for the most.