Rawlingson was extremely confident in his bombardment (which didn’t stop, as the source says, but lifted onto the German reserve lines.) He quoted that, “nothing could exist in the area covered by it.” However, from source E we know that German soldiers did survive, and that the Germans had enough men to defend their line from many heavy assaults.
Source E shows a complete contrast to the German account. It describes (in his own words) a diary entry by Sir Hankey about his visit to the Somme. The fact that it is a diary entry shows that it is probable that what he says is true to what he saw. As it is a diary entry, Hankey would have no need to lie to himself. There is however that chance of bias.
Hankey is an important official at this time. He is “Secretary of the Committee of Imperial Defence and of the war council.” This man has obviously been sent by the government to observe the goings on at the front and as the General in charge of the Western Front; Haig, would be set the task of showing Hankey “around.” Therefore he would show him the better parts of the line. Places where the British had at least had minor victories or breakthroughs. One of these places could be Montabon or Mametz, where the British and French did make breakthroughs on the first day of the battle of the Somme. (Only to lose the ground soon after because the promised cavalry advance didn’t come.)
Source E was written on the 9th of September 1916. This was also the month in which the tank was first used. This therefore could also be the reason why Hankey has been sent out, and why the source describes so many German prisoners.
However, even though Haig has shown Hankey the best parts of the line, Sir Maurice does show his worries about the Somme campaign. He tells of the German prisoners being “fine, intelligent-looking men with no sign of poor physique or moral,” and he voices his fears that Haig and the over high-ranking officers have an “over-opinion” of their sides superiority over the enemy. He latter says that despite the fierce fighting, the Germans “are still very strong” and then he maybe describes a personal opinion about why the bombardment didn’t have the required effect on the first day of the battle. “They dig better than our men and consequently, their losses are probably less.”
This was true and therefore on 1st July, 1916, after the British bombardment lifted on to the German reserve lines, the Germans were still there, “live and kicking” to fight the British back.
What both sources don’t mention is the lack of intelligence the British had before their attack and also, how the small amount of intelligence they did have was used.
Before the battle of the Somme, the British found a German dugout intact, after heavy fighting. They found that it was extremely deep and dug in to tough chalk. The bombardment that the British used against the Germans, would obviously do much less damage to these than the British generals expected. However this information wasn’t used.
General Rawlinson always thought that the bombardment would do the soldier’s job for them, however patrols were sent out in to no-man’s land during night raid, and they reported that the German barbed wire wasn’t being cut, as was planned.
Later, Lieutenant Colonel Sands saw that the Germans had the high ground on all three sides of the valley that he would attack down. He would have to march down this valley for 750 yards. He believed his men would march into disaster. Yet when he reported this, no attention was given to it.
Both sources also don’t mention the mines used in the assault. Before the battle, 5 mines were places near German strong point, and were set to blow five minutes before 7:30. (Zero hour) However, at 7:20, an officer blew his mine at the Hawthorn Redoubt. This was a costly error. It provoked a German artillery bombardment on all the packed British trenches in the area, and helped the Germans to get poised and ready for the British assault.
From the evidence that I have given I have found that source D describes the reasons for the casualty figures in most detail, and source E also gives a few reasons. Nonetheless, I have also explained a few out of the many reasons that weren’t mentioned, why these figures, 60,000, were so high. These figures also show that the type of warfare had changed from that of the century before, and that the generals, Rawlingson and Haig especially, weren’t yet accustomed to it.
