The battle of the Somme took place in the North- East of France on the 1st of July 1916

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Battle of Somme

The battle of the Somme took place in the North- East of France on the 1st of July 1916. Before the battle of the Somme started there was a lot to prepare such as getting the troops signed up in 1914. Many of these people didn’t know what was going to come and joined up to impress neighbours, friends and family and for King, Country and empire.

Men joined up from all different countries in Britain’s empire these were South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, India and Ireland. They believed that it would be over by Christmas they didn’t think that 91% of the soldiers would be killed or injured or that they were signing up for a death sentence.

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New regiments began to form and one of these was called ‘Pals Battalions’. These were   people from the same community who were friends all went to fight together and even die together.

The first place to be attacked was Vimy Ridge which was on the western front and is now a memorial to those who died and had to stay in inhuman conditions.

The divisions sent to Somme of the French were only 5 because some were involved in heavy the battle at Verdun. The British sent 14 which were about 400,000 men. There were ...

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