The advantage of trench warfare was on the side of the defense. Old-fashioned war tactics of heading straight into each other were used. They thought that all you needed to win was to overpower them by sending in more and more men. All this led to was an abundance of casualties. As the attacks went on, the Western front became strewn with decaying bodies and the remains of shells.

In 1916, the French and British forces decided to launch an allied attack on the German’s along the Western, Eastern, and Italian fronts. The Somme was chosen for the Western front.

The allied plan of the French and British was changed when the German’s decided to set their battlefield on the edge of Verdun. Verdun was a very important city to France and the French had to protect it. The great battle of Verdun started on the twenty first of February and lasted for the n

On July 14th, another attack took place which was significantly more successful than the ones past. The “New Armies” of the British were able to use new strategies in their endeavors. All the attacks following this were mainly trench warfare. The German’s had their position and wanted to hold ground. The German Commander of the Second Army, General Von Below, told his men: “hold our present position at any cost. The enemy should have to carve his way over heaps of corpses.”

The British planned this battle well in advance. They built up great amounts of men and machine. There were no new tactics introduced. Just the same old tradition of sending in more men. As they neared the end of June, they were ready for the first movement called “The Big Push.” Haigs idea was that the attack would demolish the enemy lines and allow for the British troops to push through and into the land beyond. While the British were planning and getting ready, the German army waited patiently along the ridge of the chalkhills in their trenches. Canadian troops did not arrive to Somme until August, but the Newfoundlander’s were there at the start. This regiment was one of the four which belonged to the 29th British Division 88th Brigade. The Newfoundlander’s came to Marseilles, France in March of 1916 after serving in Gallipoli and Egypt.

The 142 days of fighting tolled 415,000 British casualties and 200,000 for the French. German’s had lost around 600,000 men. The Battle of the Somme was a prime example of trench warfare. So many lives were lost, yet so little was gained. The men who fought in this battle were truly courageous. To be able to step out of your trench on a cold rainy morning and walk straight through the mud, water, dead and rotting bodies as well as wire and

Some topics in this essay:
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