2nd Day
By the second day of the Somme onslaught General Haig had realised a breakthrough was impossible. Haig could and possibly should have seen the slaughter of the day before and called of the attack. He refused to give up, however he did accept that the German line was too strong and they had too many men. He stated it was a battle of attrition. (An attempt to wear down the enemy forces)
Night Attack
At 3:25 am on the 14th July Twenty Thousand men crept across no-mans land in the middle of the night. Five miles of the German frontline were gained and important places such as Bazentin-le-petit wood. Many South African troops lost their lives in the six day struggle for the Deville wood. In the centre of the charge, men were supported by cavalry ranks. The opportunity for a big breakthrough was there when the High Wood was taken, however the British forces took a long time to rally. The Germans managed a counter-attack and regained the Woods. The Night Attack became another costly failed attempt to break the German lines.
The Tank Attack
In late August 1916 General Haig demanded that Churchill allow him to use the new vehicles named “Tanks” in battle, to try again to break the stalemate. Churchill was wary of this he did not really want to use the tanks until there were large numbers of them available. However forty-nine of them were shipped to France. On the morning of 15th September following a six day bombardment, eighteen of the tanks lined up along side troops and advance on the German front line. The Germans were terrified. The ground gained on that day was more than on any other. The tanks were very unreliable and failed to cause a breakthrough. The opportunity for the surprise use of tanks was over and some historians saw this as an opportunity squandered and criticise Haig for bad judgement.
Last Attack
The last attack came on the 13th November. The attack was centred on Beaumont Hamel. 30,000lbs of explosives had exploded under the German lines and was followed by men going over the top. After the deaths of these men the attack was finally halted and the battle of the Somme was over.
Assessment
The 1st day of the Battle of the Somme is still is the worst day in history for the British in battle. Over a million British troops were unnecessarily slaughtered due to bad tactics and poor planning on the part of General Haig. After the first day I think that Haig should have seen that the Somme was never going to get a huge breakthrough as he wanted and called it off.
Haig used very repetitive and un-creative tactics, such as he kept trying to use cavalry. Even through it was obvious that the way forward was using artillery and infantry. Haig advisors were also to blame as they could see the problems with Haig ideas but were too scared to stand up to him.
However in the defence of Haig he didn’t originally want an attack at the Somme, also he told the French he wasn’t ready and wasn’t going to be ready until November. The French needed relieving at Verdun and so the assault was moved forward to July.
At this time the troops were un-trained and un-skilled.
The original aim of the Somme offensive was to relieve the French where they were being slaughtered. In a way the battle was a success as this was done.
