Transcript Document

Thiepval MemorialSomme
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
CAUSE
EVIDENCE
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.
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 overrated weapon”
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
From the Blackadder TV
small problem.
Blackadder: That everyone always gets slaughtered the first ten Programme, made in 1989.
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.
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.
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?
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.
Poor tactics resulted in the failure of the artillery to do much damage. For example…
General Haig’s
Incompetence
Overconfidence
of soldiers
Poor tactics
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.
Failure of
Artillery
Poor training
Inexperience
of Soldiers
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
My memory was seared with the picture of the
French and British attacking together on the
Somme on July 1st 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)
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
“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 23rd
Battalion.
“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
“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, 30th 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 1st July 1916
“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.
“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, 169th Regiment,
Germany Army.
Inexperience
of Soldiers
Failure of
Artillery
Inexperience
of Soldiers
Failure of
Artillery
Poor training
Poor tactics
Poor training
Poor tactics
Overconfidence
of soldiers
Overconfidence
of soldiers
General Haig’s
Incompetence
General Haig’s
Incompetence