Major Battles of WWI: Battle of the Somme

Peter Barton sets out to tell the story of the battle of the Somme, British failures, and German innovations, from the perspective of the Nazi soldiers.

The Allied offensive lead by British "Tommies" illustrates the total futility of the war. Troops are ordered "over the top" and directly into the German line of machine gun fire.

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During the Battle of the Somme, Peter Barton argues, the Nazi German soldiers were able to spring the biggest surprise on the battlefront with their far reaching tactics and innovations.

The Battle of the Somme (1 July - 18 November 1916) was one of the most bitterly contested and costly battles of the First World War, lasting nearly five months. The offensive began on 1 July 1916 after a week-long artillery bombardment of the German lines. There were over a million casualties on both sides and by the end of the campaign the British had only advanced seven miles. This infographic gives some key facts about the battle.