General Haig Halts the Battle of the Somme on the 18th November 1916
One of the biggest land battles on the Western Front during World War 1 was the Battle of the Somme. The Battle was fort between British and French armies against Germany. The offensive lasted 141 days and resulted in the Allies gaining just 7 miles. The objective of breaking the German lines was not achieved.
In terms of human cost, the Battle was an astronomical catastrophe. British 420,000 casualties, French 195,000 casualties, German 650,000 casualties.
3 million men fort in the Battle of the Somme and 1 million where either wounded or killed.
The Somme offensive has remained in the vocabulary of the nation and in modern times it is not hard to find someone who had a relative or had some personal link to this battle.
