The Somme

The Somme. 
The Battle of the Somme started officially on 1st July 1916; an offensive in that sector of the Western Front had been in the planning for some months, originally for a combined French/British decisive blow.  The start of the attack became more pressing when the Germans attacked heavily at Verdun, which the French were committed to defend as a matter on national honour.  The German strategy was to inflict a massive defeat on the French Army at Verdun, which was holding this strongpoint; such a defeat was designed to inflict such a psychological blow to France that she would ask for an armistice and end the war to Germany's advantage.   
The British and Commonwealth armies made their attack on 1st July in order to put pressure on German resources and force them to move troops away from the Verdun attack, and also to take advantage of a perceived weakening of the German defences in the Somme area. 
The 1st Battalion the 6th South Staffordshire Regiment was ordered to attack enemy positions in the front and rear of Gommecourt Wood.  An artillery barrage was to prepare the ground and cut the enemy barbed wire defences.  The hour-long barrage lifted at 7.25 am, the troops went 'over the top' into a smoke screen, and in a repeat of the Hohenzollern Redoubt fiasco, were cut down in droves by heavy enemy machine-gun, rifle, and artillery fire.  The few men who reached the opposing trenches found that the wire had been partially cut but not removed by the preparatory artillery fire, so were unable to make any progress.  Just over half of the battalion was destroyed in that morning, mostly in the first few minutes.  Later reports told that most of the casualties were the work of one enemy machine-gun that had not been suppressed in the north-west corner of Gommecourt village.  The 1/6th South Staffordshire regiment now numbered about 250 men.   
Over 19 000 men in the attacking force of 100 000 were killed in the first few hours alone.  A total of nearly 60 000 casualties was recorded, counting those killed, wounded, missing, or taken prisoner.  This was a truly shocking toll, never experienced by the British Army before or since, and it added to the growing undercurrent of unease at home about the strategy and tactics used.  Haig became known in some circles as the Butcher of the Somme.