1. An Overview of the Great War

2. 1916: The Great Slaughter Germany’s new plan: “Bleed them white!”
-Battle of Verdun (Feb.-Dec.)
*combined losses: 1.2 million men
420,000 dead
800,000 wounded
-Battle of the Somme (June-Nov.)
*British attempt to pull troops from Verdun
*Planned to punch hole in German lines
*July 1, 1916: “Bloodiest single day in history of British army.”
**60,000 casualties
*combined total losses: 1.7 million
*penetrated 6 miles over 200 mile front

3. Tanks
The Battle of the Somme in July 1916 saw the introduction of a revolutionary new weapon in the British Mark I Tank (short, literally, for water tank).
Along some of the German lines in that battle, the men fled when they saw the armored beasts lumbering toward them.
A total of 36 tanks were used in that initial attack, with varying degrees of success. However, this new offensive-minded weapon, designed to break through entrenched lines, would see rapid modifications and improvements, helping the tank to secure an important place in the Allies arsenal.
The British Mark I

4. British Mark V Tank (male) British Mark V Tank (female)
French Renault Tank
French Renaults used by Americans

5. The French Renault
Cut-away of the famous Renault tank. Introduced in 1917, over 3,000 Renault FT-17 tanks were produced before the end of the war, of which 500 were delivered to the US army.

6. Tank Numbers by 1918:
British: 3000
French: 4000
Germany: 20
German A7V Tank
While the German army tried to create their own tanks to match those of the Allies, the A7V was cumbersome and unstable in action. Instead, the Germans preferred using captured British tanks.

7. “Highlanders on the March” in a sunken road

8. Finding the fallen in a trench; image from Hooge Crater Museum

9. Explosion of Hawthorne Ridge Mine, July 1, 1916 –Battle of the Somme
(Resulting crater was 130’ wide by 58’ deep)

10. Hawthorne Ridge, July 2006

11. The Sunken Road; Beaumont-Hamel, France

12. View of Hawthorne Ridge from “Sunken Road”—July 2006

13. View of Sunken Road from top of Hawthorne Ridge

14. Mine Crater at Vimy Ridge

15. Mine crater at Lochnagar