2. Thiepval Memorial- Somme If you have Thiepval Memorial on your names card, it means that the body of your soldier was never found. This was a common occurrence for soldiers who died/went missing on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. There were so many casualties that the bodies were left in no mans land and were never seen again

3. The first day on the Somme was a failure. The British had suffered 19,240 dead, 35,493 wounded, 2,152 missing and 585 prisoners for a total loss of 57,470. Initial casualties were especially heavy among officers, who still dressed differently from other ranks, and whose uniforms the Germans had been trained to recognise. It is estimated that the Germans suffered 8,000 casualties on the British front of which 2,200 were prisoners of war. The disparity between British and German casualties was highest at Ovillers where the British 8th Division suffered 5,121 casualties while the defending German 180th Regiment had only 280 casualties — a ratio of 18 to 1.

4. When someone dies in suspicious circumstances it is necessary to carry out a post-mortem. A body is dissected and studies to see if we can figure what caused this person to die. We a tragedy has happened like the Battle of the Somme it is necessary to figure out exactly what happened by dissecting evidence. This is what you will do today.

5. One skill that is very important in school and in any later career is you ability to categorise information and find shared characteristics. This can be particularly important when writing essays – if you can group examples together then you will be able to decide what would be the best paragraph choices for any essay that you may write.

6. Your challenge is to find out what was the cause of the tragedy on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. You will examine 8 pieces of evidence today, from eye witnesses at the Battle of the Somme. You will have to sort through these and decide what causes of the tragedy they hint at. You will then need to try and group the factors together. At various stages in the lesson I will drop in facts that may cause you to reflect further on your answers.

7. CAUSEEVIDENCE

8. General Haig was a commander with a highly successful record. In 1915, when he became commander, he was 54 and he had already had a long and successful military career. In particular he had been a celebrated cavalry commander in the Boer War fifteen years earlier. He worked extremely hard working 18 hour days, seven days a week. His generals under him regularly visited the front lines. Haig also was the a very experimental General in terms of tactics – he was the first British General to employ tanks, aircraft, motorised machine gun units effectively.

9. General Haig never once visited the front line trenches during the 4 month long Battle of the Somme. He also lived in a chateau 20 miles behind the front line trenches in great comfort. Haig has also come out with some statements recently that you may be interested in: 1915: “The way to capture machine guns is by grit and determination.” 1916 : “The machine gun is greatly over- rated weapon”

10. Melchett: Now, Field Marshal Haig has formulated a brilliant new tactical plan to ensure final victory in the field. [they gather around a model of the battlefield] Blackadder: Now, would this brilliant plan involve us climbing out of our trenches and walking slowly towards the enemy sir? Darling: How can you possibly know that Blackadder? It's classified information. Blackadder: It's the same plan that we used last time, and the seventeen times before that. Melchett: E-E-Exactly! And that is what so brilliant about it! We will catch the watchful Hun totally off guard! Doing precisely what we have done eighteen times before is exactly the last thing they'll expect us to do this time! There is however one small problem. Blackadder: That everyone always gets slaughtered the first ten seconds. Melchett: That's right! And Field Marshal Haig is worried that this may be depressing the men a tadge. So, he's looking to find a way to cheer them up. Blackadder: Well, his resignation and suicide would seem the obvious solution. From the Blackadder TV Programme, made in 1989.

11. 53 of the 80 battalions crawled or crept toward the German wire before standing to rush the trenches. Only 12 battalions marched in slow waves, some following a creeping barrage that was successful in the south.

12. 1. So what categories have you managed to come up with. 2. So far which factor do you think is the most convincing explanation. Why do you think this?

13. The point of a Causal Web is simple. It allows you to decide what factor is the most important factor easily. In theory an argument that directly causes most other factors to happen should be the most important argument. So if you find that the failure of the artillery leads to the most factors then that surely must be the most important factor.

14. Poor training Failure of Artillery Poor tactics Inexperience of Soldiers Overconfidence of soldiers If it wasn’t for the fact that British troops were inexperienced then they would not have had to order the soldiers to walk over No Man-s land to keep discipline and order. Poor tactics resulted in the failure of the artillery to do much damage. For example… General Haig’s Incompetence

16. The biggest mistake that was made in training was that we were never told what to do in case of failure. All that time we’d gone backwards and forwards, training with a bayonet, doing it over and over again like clockwork. For the first 18 months of training we didn’t even have proper guns to train with. Some men had to train with walking sticks instead of rifles. In the end when we had to advance, when it came to the bit, we didn’t know what to do! Memories of Sergeant Jim Myers, Machine Gun Corps

17. My memory was seared with the picture of the French and British attacking together on the Somme on July 1 st 1916, the British rigid and slow, advancing as at a military parade in lines which were torn and ripped by the German guns, while the French tactical formations, quick and flexible, secured their objectives with little loss. It had been a terrible spectacle. As a display of bravery it was magnificent. As an example of tactics its very memory made me shudder. General Spears, Prelude to Victory (1920s )

18. I was in the first wave. My first impression was the sight of unexploded mortar bombs…they were supposed to destroy the German wire which was almost untouched. I doubt if one had exploded. I was told later that in fact 1 in 4 was defective and failed to explode. Memories of Private W Hay, Royal Scots Battalion

19. “My tunic is rotten with other men’s blood and partly spattered with a friend’s brains. It is horrible but why should you people at home not know? The horror was indescribable…I honestly believe that Goldie (a mate) and many others were murdered through the stupidity of those in charge.“ Lieutenant J.A. Raws of the 23 rd Battalion.

20. “It was clear that there were no gaps in the wire at the time of attack. The Germans must have been reinforcing the wire for months. It was so dense that daylight could barely be seen through it…Who told them that artillery 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.” Private George Coppard

21. “The men are in splendid spirits. Several have said that they have never before been so instructed and informed of the nature of the operation before them. The barbed wire has never been so well cut, no the artillery preparation so thorough. All the commanders are full of confidence” Commander Douglas Haig, 30 th June 1916 “Very successful attack this morning…All went like clockwork...the battle is going very well for us and already the Germans are surrendering freely. The enemy is so short of men that he is collecting them from all parts of the line. Our troops are in wonderful spirits and full of confidence.” Commander Douglas Haig 1 st July 1916

22. “The German machine-guns and infantry must have been preserved owing to their deep dug-outs. These were numerous and elaborate, most of them 30 to 40 feet below ground. When we went into their dug-outs were actually found the electric lights still burning. So much for the artillery preparation.” Private A McMullen, Donegal and Fermanagh Volunteers.

23. “When the English started advancing we were very worried; they look as though they must overrun our trenches. We were very surprised to see them walking, we had never seen that before. The officers were in front. I noticed one of them walking calmly carrying a walking stick. We saw a group of about twelve Tommies kicking a football across no-mans land. 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. If only they had run, they would have overwhelmed us.” Private Karl Blenk, 169 th Regiment, Germany Army.

24. Inexperience of Soldiers Poor training Overconfidence of soldiers General Haig’s Incompetence Failure of Artillery Poor tactics Inexperience of Soldiers Poor training Overconfidence of soldiers General Haig’s Incompetence Failure of Artillery Poor tactics