Centenary of ANZAC: Remembering the Somme

5 July 2016:

This year marks the 100th year anniversary of some of the worst losses of life by ANZAC forces in World War I.

Friday 1 July: beginning of the Battle of the Somme

This day marks the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the Battle of the Somme, also known as the Somme Offensive, one of the largest battles of World War I, fought between 1 July and 1 November 1916.

It was fought along the Somme Valley in France and remains one of the bloodiest military battles in history.

The first day alone was the most costly in the history of the British Army with almost 60,000 casualties: the name ‘Somme’ became synonymous with slaughter. By the end of the campaign, the Allies and Central Powers had lost more than 1.5 million men.

The battle was originally planned as part of a wider strategy of attacking Germany simultaneously on the Western and Eastern Fronts, with the aim of destroying Germany’s reserves of manpower. However, when the offensive was abandoned in November, the allied forces had advanced only 12 km and losses were unprecedented.

The offensive was founded on a strategy of attrition and this proved a double-edged sword. It had resulted in around 500,000 German casualties, and the German army never recovered from its losses of experienced junior officers and NCOs on the Somme.

However, this had come at a cost of 620,000 Allied casualties: 420,000 British and Dominion, and 200,000 French. The offensive destroyed Britain’s mass volunteer army, and for the rest of the war it would be reliant upon conscription for reinforcements.

19-20 July: Battle of Fromelles

Fromelles was the first major battle fought by Australian troops on the Western Front. Directed against a strong German position, the attack was intended to draw German troops away from the Somme offensive further to the south. A seven-hour preparatory bombardment deprived the attack of the element of surprise and was ineffective against the Germans. When Australian and British troops attacked on 19 July, they came under machine-gun attack and only small parts of the German trenches were captured: however, with no support, they were forced to withdraw. By 8am on 20 July 1916, the battle was over.

The Australians suffered 5,533 casualties and the British suffered 1,547. The German casualties were little more than 1,000. The attack was a complete failure as the Germans realised within a few hours it was a feint and it had no impact on the progress of the Somme offensive.

Unidentified men of the 5th Division resting by the side of the Montauban road, near Mametz, while en route to the trenches. Most are wearing sheepskin jackets and woollen gloves and are carrying full kit and .303 Lee Enfield rifles.

23 July to 7 August: Battle of Pozieres

Pozieres, a small village in the Somme valley, was the scene of bitter and costly fighting for Australian troops. Pozieres was captured initially on 23 July but came under almost continuous artillery fire and repeated German counter-attacks with over 5000 casualties by 27 July. Another division then took over and mounted two further attacks. The first, on 29 July, was a costly failure and the second, on 2 August, resulted in the seizure of further German positions beyond the village. The Australians suffered heavily from retaliatory bombardments and when relieved on 6 August, they had suffered 6,848 casualties. Another division took over and it too endured a massive artillery bombardment. They defeated a German counter-attack on 7 August and this was the last attempt by the Germans to retake Pozieres.

Overall, the Battle of Pozieres resulted in 23,000 Allied casualties.

Informal portrait of Captain C E W Bean, Official War Correspondent, knee deep in mud in Gird trench, near Gueudecourt in France, during the winter of 1916-1917

8 August to 3 September: Mouquet Farm Offensive

During the night of 10 August, ANZAC forces attacked towards Mouquet farm and establish advanced posts in the valley south and east of the farm. Attacks were then made to the north-east. By 22 August, the troops realised that the main defensive position was underground, where the Germans had excavated the farm’s cellars to create linked dug-outs. On 3 September, they attacked again and captured much of the surface remains of the farm and trenches nearby, with hand-to-hand fighting in the ruins and underground. German counter-attacks retook the farm with loss of 2,049 Australian casualties.

In total, the Mouquet Farm offensive resulted in over 11,000 Allied casualties.

November: Flers

The village of Flers was the location for a series of attacks in November. After a very wet autumn, the Somme battlefield was completely waterlogged and the attacks had to be made in horrendous conditions. The Allied troops were sucked down by cloying mud and were unable to keep up with their artillery barrage, becoming easy targets for German machine-gunners and riflemen. Attacks on 5 November and 17 November gained some of their objectives, but were counter attacked and forced to withdraw.

Like their British allies, participation on the Somme put the first strain on Australia’s voluntary recruitment system and led to the first unsuccessful referendum to introduce conscription.