What does this statement mean: Think! What does this statement mean: “Lions led by Donkeys”

“Lions led by Donkeys”- Is this an accurate assessment of the Battle of the Somme?

Outcomes: To know what happened at the Battle of the Somme To explain reasons for and against the assessment To make an overall judgement about the statement using a GCSE style question. Starter Look at this photo carefully. Write down all the words you would use to describe this man in your book.

Task Glue in the map and explain why the British army was ordered to attack on the Somme front in the summer of 1916. Heavy French losses at Verdun brought the date of the Somme offensive forward by a month, to 1st July, on the insistence of General Joffre. The aim was to divert German attention from Verdun in defence of the Somme. General Sir Douglas Haig would have preferred to attack later on, on the open plains of Flanders where there was more to be gained strategically, and when the volunteer army raised by Kitchener had been trained more fully. However, as Britain was the 'junior partner in a coalition with France... the French tended to call the shots'.

What happened When the men went over-the-top at 7:30 am on 1st July, wave after wave were simply mown down by enemy fire. Approximately 60,000 men were killed or wounded by the end of the first day. The French, attacking where the defences were weaker, had been more successful yet without back up from the British they were unable to hold on to their advance. Convinced of eventual success Haig allowed the bloodshed to continue despite the growing losses. By the time he called off his 'Great Push' on 28th November 1916 more than 450,000 British, 200,000 French and 650,000 German soldiers had been slaughtered. After four months of fighting the Allies had advanced a distance of no more than five miles.

“Lions led by Donkeys”- accurate assessment “Lions led by Donkeys”- NOT accurate assessment A- “advance in such admirable order” “magnificent display of gallantry” but “hardly a man of ours got the German front line”

Source A “They advanced in line after line, dressed as if on parade, and not a man shirked going through the extremely heavy barrage, or facing the machine-gun and rifle fire that finally wiped them out. I saw the lines which advanced in such admirable order melting away under the fire. Yet not a man wavered, broke the ranks, or attempted to come back. I have never seen, I would never have imagined, such a magnificent display of gallantry, discipline and determination. The reports I have had from the very few survivors of this marvellous advance bear out what I saw with my own eyes, viz, that hardly a man of ours got to the German front line.” General Rees, commander of 94th Infantry Brigade at the Somme, described how his men went into battle on 1st July, 1916.

Source B Born In 1861 General Haig had been trained as a Cavalry Officer (mounted soldier). His career had been spent fighting enemies of the Empire in India and other parts of the World that did not have the weaponry the Germans had.

Source C Concentrated machine gun fire from sufficient guns to command every inch of the wire, had done its terrible work. The Germans must have been reinforcing the wire for months. It was so dense that daylight could barely be seen through it. Through the glasses it looked a black mass. The German faith in massed wire had paid off. How did our planners imagine that Tommies, having survived all other hazards – And there were plenty in crossing No Man's Land - would get through the German wire? Had they studied the black density of it through their powerful binoculars? Who told them that artillery fire would pound such wire to pieces, making it possible to get through? Any Tommy could have told them that shell fire lifts wire up and drops it down, often in a worse tangle than before. George Coppard was a machine-gunner at the Battle of the Somme. In his book With A Machine Gun to Cambrai, he described what he saw on the 2nd July, 1916.

Source D By the third week in November the three main objects with which we had commenced our offensive had already been achieved: Verdun had been relieved; the main German forces had been held on the Western front; and the enemy’s strength had been considerably worn down. Extract from “Sir Douglas Haig’s Great Push”, Hutchinson, 1917.

British artillery firing on the first day of the Battle- July 1st 1916 Source E British artillery firing on the first day of the Battle- July 1st 1916

Source F The reasons the British failed was not due to the Inability of Haig but: Inadequate artillery- If the artillery had done its job properly to break the barbed wire and destroy the German trenches, the British attacks would’ve been successful. Poor communications, which led to Battalions advancing too fast, or charging hopeless causes at great loss. John D Clare, historian, 2008

Source G We were very surprised to see them walking. We had never seen that before. When we started firing, we just had to load and reload. They went down in their hundreds. You didn’t have to aim, we just fired into them. By a German machine Gunner on the Somme

Source H The soldiers were ordered into battle on the following day and every day for 20 weeks. Haig was later much criticised for this. He and his supporters pointed to the fact that he had pinned down a large part of the German army for nearly 6 months. He was also under pressure from the French to continue fighting on the Somme, since the Battle of Verdun…was still being fought 200 km away. (the first day of the Somme was the 132nd of the Battle of Verdun) School history textbook 1996

Source I On 1 July an enormous British army began to move slowly across 'no-man's-land' towards the German defences. The soldiers had been told the enemy trenches would be smashed. They had expected shell-shocked soldiers ready to surrender...Everywhere they met a hail of accurate machine-gun fire... A brave volunteer army had marched to its death. LE Snellgrove, The Modern World Since 1870 (1968)

“Lions led by Donkeys”- Is this an accurate assessment of the Battle of the Somme?

On the one hand this is an accurate assessment of the “Lions led by Donkeys”- Is this an accurate assessment of the Battle of the Somme? On the one hand this is an accurate assessment of the General's leadership at the battle of the Somme Evidence Explanation However, it is possible to say that this statement is unfair and not accurate Evidence Explanation Conclusion: Overall I think…

“Lions led by Donkeys”- Is this an accurate assessment of the Battle of the Somme? 10 marks 1-2 Marks (equivalent to U-G): You offer simple generalised comments about the assessment provided in the question. 3-4 Marks (equivalent to F-E): You identify a range of specific examples of evidence to support the assessment provided, but offer no explanation as to why the assessment is accurate. Or, you identify a range of specific examples of evidence to go against the assessment, but again you offer no explanation as to why the assessment is accurate. 5-6 Marks (equivalent to D-C): You explain why the assessment is accurate, using specific examples of evidence to support the interpretation provided. Or, you explain why it is not accurate, using specific examples of evidence to support them. 7-9 Marks (equivalent to B-A*): You explain both sides of the argument 10 Marks (equivalent to A*) For top marks you will reach a conclusion as to how accurate this assessment is

The battle of the Somme- events. 1) a huge new army of Volunteers was created to launch the attack. 2) Supplies and men assembled on the Somme front to attack 3) German defences were bombarded with over 1.5 million shells for seven days before the attack. 4) The bombardment was supposed to destroy the German defences, break their barbed wire and kill most of the defenders 5) Three big mines and 7 smaller ones were exploded under the German defences. 6) The Infantry was then to advance across no mans land and break through the German defences 7) Cavalry was the to be sent through the gap in the German line and attack it from behind. Strengths of the plan Weaknesses of the plan