Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers 8 + 3 battalions. German order of battle derived from Hart, Appendix C unless stated. [64] Sheldon wrote that the British lost "over 400,000" casualties. 6 minutes 25th Infantry Division Other British and French forces had more success to the south, though these gains were limited compared to the devastating losses sustained on that first day of battle. South of Serre, Beaumont Hamel and Beaucourt-sur-l'Ancre were captured. Filmed at the start of the battle, it mainly showsreal events, although some scenes were staged for the camera. Detonation of Hawthorne Ridge mine, 1 July 1916, The 103rd (Tyneside Irish) Brigade advance towards La Boisselle, 1 July 1916. 1/1st Battalionn, Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Lt. Inf. Ginchy was 1.5km (0.93mi) north-east of Guillemont, at the junction of six roads on a rise overlooking Combles, 4km (2.5mi) to the south-east. Initial plans called for the French army to undertake the main part of the Somme offensive, supported on the northern flank by the Fourth Army of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). German overestimation of the cost of Verdun to the French contributed to the concentration of German infantry and guns on the north bank of the Somme. More than anything else, the Battle of the Sommeand especially its devastating first daywould be remembered as the epitome of the brutal and seemingly senseless carnage that characterized trench warfare during World War I. British officers, especially Haig, would be criticized for continuing the offensive in spite of such devastating losses. Corps Commander: General, I Cavalry Corps. In mid-September, the Allies resumed their general offensive. Lancashire Fusiliers 6 August 1916), 1/4th Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers, 1/5th Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers, 1/6th Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers, 1/7th Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers, 1/8th Battalion, Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, 1/7th Bn, the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, 1/4th Battalion, King's Own Royal Regiment. Thought the presentation & interpretation made the subject accessible". Popular Culture In the 7 days before the battle, the British artillery fired 1,508,652 shells against the first German defensive position. [31], The Battle of Pozires began with the capture of the village by the 1st Australian Division (Australian Imperial Force) of the Reserve Army, the only British success in the Allied fiasco of 22/23 July, when a general attack combined with the French further south, degenerated into a series of separate attacks due to communication failures, supply failures and poor weather. [52] The European powers had begun the war with trained armies of regulars and reservists, which were wasting assets. The 27th to 29th Divisions were Regular army divisions made up from units recalled from garrisons around the empire. 70th Infantry Division [76], Doughty wrote that French losses on the Somme were "surprisingly high" at 202,567 men, 54 per cent of the 377,231 casualties at Verdun. On the morning of July 1, 11 divisions of the British 4th Armymany of them volunteer soldiers going into battle for the first timebegan advancing on a 15-mile front north of the Somme River. [55] A war of attrition was a logical strategy for Britain against Germany, which was also at war with France and Russia. [41], The Battle of the Ancre was the last big British operation of the year. When the attack began, it would provide a creeping barrage behind which the infantry could advance. 7th Battalion, King's Own Yorkshire Lt.Inf. They captured Beaumont-Hamel, but failed to take the village of Serre. We just do not have the troops. We cannot prevail in a second battle of the Somme with our men; they cannot achieve that any more. [48] The withdrawal took place from 1620 March, with a retirement of about 25mi (40km), giving up more French territory than that gained by the Allies from September 1914 until the beginning of the operation. 1/6th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, 1/6th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment. Corps Commander: General Paul Maistre, XXX Corps. [1] Regular army divisions were numbered 1st to 8th. December 1916) began a week after Joffre and Haig agreed to mount an offensive on the Somme. The New Zealand Division later joined II ANZAC Corps together with the 3rd and 5th Australian Divisions, National Archives: Naval Division (19141919). The Fourth Army was formed on 5 February 1916 under the command of General Sir Henry Rawlinson to carry out the main British contribution to the Battle of the Somme . A large regiment is a multi-battalion infantry formation of the British Army. Though the British were able to advance some 1.5 miles, they sustained some 29,000 casualties and fell short of a true breakthrough. The British captured La Boiselle, Contalmaison and Mametz Wood, and a night attack on 13/14 July broke through the second German defensive position at Bazentin. The costly defence of Verdun forced the army to divert divisions intended for the Somme offensive, eventually reducing the French contribution to 13 divisions in the Sixth Army, against 20 British divisions. Along the line, German machine gun and rifle fire cut down thousands of the attacking British troops, many of them caught in no mans land between the two sides. The two assault divisions the 18th (Eastern) and 30th Division, both New Army formations seized all their objectives. Dugouts had been deepened from 69 feet (1.82.7m) to 2030 feet (6.19.1m), 50 yards (46m) apart and large enough for 25 men. The principal role in the offensive devolved to the British and on 16 June, Haig defined the objectives of the offensive as the relief of pressure on the French at Verdun and the infliction of losses on the Germans. The strategic objective of a breakthrough was not achieved but the tactical gains were considerable, the front line being advanced by 2,5003,500 yards (2,3003,200m) and many casualties were inflicted on the German defenders. [2] Second World War [ edit] The British lost 419,634 men, the French 204,253 and the Germans an estimated 415,000. General Service Corps. The front trenches were on a forward slope, lined by white chalk from the subsoil and easily seen by ground observers. He may be referring to the paper which Churchill distributed in August 1916, rather than the fuller numbers later presented in, On the French historiography see Bloody Victory: The Sacrifice on the Somme and the Making of the Twentieth Century, William Philpott (2009) and, Operations on the Ancre, JanuaryMarch 1917, Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, List of Canadian battles during the First World War, List of World War I memorials and cemeteries in the Somme, Order of battle for the Battle of the Somme, "The Somme 1916 - From Both Sides of the Wire", "Verdun: France's sacred symbol of healing", "Was bloody Somme a success for the British? It took place between 1 July and 18 November 1916 on both sides of the upper reaches of the river Somme in France. Preparations for the attack were rushed, the troops involved lacked experience in trench warfare and the power of the German defence was "gravely" underestimated, the attackers being outnumbered 2:1. Find out more, Featured There were only a handful of Regular battalions that had crossed the Channel with the British Expeditionary Force in 1914, and a few more Territorials that had already seen action in 1915. Philpott described German losses as "disputed", with estimates ranging from 400,000 to 680,000. Many of the British soldiers who fought at the Somme had volunteered for army service in 1914 and 1915 and saw combat for the first time in the battle. 125th Infantry Division Order of battle for the Battle of the Somme, Subsidiary Attack on the Gommecourt Salient: 1 July, Subsidiary Attacks on High Wood: 2025 July, Battle of Delville Wood: 15 July 3 September, Battle of Pozires: 23 July 3 September, Battle of Flers-Courcelette: 1522 September, Battle of the Ancre Heights: 118 October, The 102nd and 103rd Infantry Brigades of the 34th Division had suffered many losses in the Battle of Albert, 1916, changed places with the 111th and 112th Infantry Brigades of the 37th Division and went into line with the 37th Division, IV Corps, First Army on Vimy Ridge, while the two 37th Division brigades, fought in the battles of Bazentin and Pozires under the 34th Division. These lines were intended to limit any Allied breakthrough and to allow the German army to withdraw if attacked; work began on the Siegfriedstellung (Hindenburg Line) at the end of September. Find out more, Fort Nelson The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme; German: Schlacht an der Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and the French Third Republic against the German Empire. Next day, Falkenhayn ordered the Guard Reserve Corps to be withdrawn to reinforce the Somme front. 152nd Infantry Division [84] The Somme is remembered in Northern Ireland due to the participation of the 36th (Ulster) Division and commemorated by veterans' groups and by unionist/Protestant groups such as the Orange Order. Somme. [27], The Fourth Army attacked the German second defensive position from the Somme past Guillemont and Ginchy, north-west along the crest of the ridge to Pozires on the AlbertBapaume road. In The World Crisis (first published in the early 1920s, reprinted in 1938), he quoted the German Reichsarchiv data, showing that on the Western Front between February and June 1916, the Germans had suffered 270,000 casualties against the French and 390,000 between July and the end of the year (Appendix J); he wrote that the Germans suffered 278,000 casualties at Verdun and that around one eighth of their casualties were suffered on "quiet" sectors. Attacks continued through the summer, mostly on a series of individual objectives, with the Germans frequently mounting counter-attacks of their own. The French would have to conduct a counter-offensive on ground dominated by the German army and ringed with masses of heavy artillery, leading to huge losses and bringing the French army close to collapse. The Reserve Army attacked to complete the capture of Regina Trench/Stuff Trench, north of Courcelette to the west end of Bazentin Ridge around Schwaben and Stuff Redoubts, during which bad weather caused great hardship and delay. Chiefs of Staff: General Erich Falkenhayn (until 28 August 1916), General Paul von Hindenburg. The cavalry charge on 14 July was conducted by two regiments, the 20th Deccan Horse and the British Seventh Dragoon Guards, who were supported by another Indian regiment, the 34th Poona Horse. He was killed in action on 1 July 1916. Main article: Battle of the Somme Contents 43rd Infantry Division The Battle of the Somme (1 July - 18 November 1916) was a joint operation between British and French forces intended to achieve a decisive victory over the Germans on the Western Front after 18 months of trench deadlock. The majority of the troops were volunteers of Kitcheners New Armies: ordinary men from all walks of life, who were enthusiastic but poorly trained. 2nd Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, 4th Battalion, King's (Liverpool) Regiment, 1st Battalion, Queen's (Royal West Surrey) Regiment, 1st Battalion, The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), 2nd Battalion, Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, 1/5th Battalion, The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), Major-General E.G. The British Empire had suffered 420,000 casualties and the French 200,000 in the process. [83] The first day of the Battle of the Somme is commemorated in Newfoundland, remembering the "Best of the Best" at 11am on the Sunday nearest to 1 July. Over 141 days, the British had advanced just seven miles and had failed to break the German line. The second position was beyond the range of Allied field artillery, to force an attacker to stop and move field artillery forward before assaulting the position. 12th Bn, Prince of Wales' Own West Yorkshires, 10th Bn, Princess of Wales's Own Yorkshire Regt, 8th Battalion, King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, 8th Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment, 10th Battalion, Duke of Wellington Regiment, 9th Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment, 9th Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment, 12th Battalion, Sherwood Foreseter Regiment, 8th Battalion, Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, 9th Battalion, Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, 2nd Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles Regiment, 6th Battalion, South Wales Border Regiment, 18th Battalion, King's Own Royal Regiment, 17th Battalion, King's (Liverpool) Regiment, 16th Battalion (1st City) Manchester Regiment, 19th Battalion (4th City) Manchester Regiment, 19th Battalion, King's (Liverpool)Regiment, 17th Battalion (2nd City) Manchester Regiment, 2nd Battalion, Princess of Wales' Own Yorkshire Regt, 20th Battalion, King's (Liverpool) Regiment, 18th Battalion (3rd City) Manchester Regiment, 2nd Battalion, Duke of Edinburgh's Wiltshire Regiment, 11th Battalion (St.Helens Pioneers) Prince of Wales's Volunteers, 12th Battalion, York & Lancaster Regiment, 13th Battalion, York & Lancaster Regiment, 14th Battalion, York & Lancaster Regiment, 12th Battalion, King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry Regiment. (South Antrim), Royal Irish Rifles, 14th Bn (Young Citizens), Royal Irish Rifles, 15th Bn, (North Belfast), Royal Irish Rifles, 10th Battalion, Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, 9th Battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment, 13th Bn, (1st North Wales), Royal Welch Fusiliers, 10th Battalion (1st Rhondda), Welch Regiment, 17th Bn, (2nd North Wales), Royal Welch Fusiliers, 13th Battalion (2nd Rhondda), Welch Regiment, 10th Bn, (1st Gwent), South Wales Borderers, 15th Bn, (1st London Welsh), Royal Welch Fusiliers, 11th Bn, (2nd Gwent), South Wales Borderers, 15th Battalion (Carmarthenshire), Welch Regiment, 19th Battalion (Glamorgan Pioneers), Welsh Regiment, 10th Bn, The Queen's Royal West Surrey Regt, 1/5th Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment, 1/6th Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment, 1/5th Battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment, 1/6th Battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment, Major-General Sir C. St L. Barter (relieved) then Major-General G.K Gorringe, 1/5th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment. The terms of service in the Territoiral Force meant that men who had signed up on these could not be forced to serve outside the United Kingdom. [59], The British and French had advanced about 6mi (9.7km) on the Somme, on a front of 16mi (26km) at a cost of 419,654[61][62][63] to 432,000[64] British and about 200,000 French[61][65] casualties, against 465,181[61] to 500,000[63] or perhaps 600,000 German casualties. Just like a Remembrance Sunday silence, a bugler played The Last Post after the silence. The defences were crowded towards the front trench with a regiment having two battalions near the front-trench system and the reserve battalion divided between the Sttzpunktlinie and the second position, all within 2,000 yards (1,800m) of no man's land and most troops within 1,000 yards (910m) of the front line, accommodated in the new deep dugouts. The whole history of the world cannot contain a Captain George Johnson wore this tunic on the first day of the Somme. It was fought between mixed French, British and Dominion forces and the British soldiers advancing under cover of . The worst casualties were suffered by: Over the next few days, a series of smaller attacks developed. Little German and French writing on this topic has been translated, leaving much of their historical perspective and detail of German and French military operations inaccessible to the English-speaking world.[95][96][97][98][99][100]. Tanks were used for the first time at Flers-Courcelette, but they were few in numbers and mechanically unreliable. 61st Infantry Division The British wanted to attack in Belgium. Armoured (Type 56, with Challenger 2 MBTs) The Queen's Royal Hussars The King's Royal Hussars (to re-equip with the Ajax as a "Medium armoured regiment . French 6th Army Corps, which contained British or Dominion forces: Refer following section titled "Divisions" for brigades, regiments and battalions associated with each division participating in the listed battles. [28], The Battle of Fromelles was a subsidiary attack to support the Fourth Army on the Somme 80km (50mi) to the south, to exploit any weakening of the German defences opposite. But theyoverestimated their firepower. 7th Battalion, King's Own Yorkshire Lt.Inf. On 13 November, they launched their last attack across the Ancre. Withdrawing to the new line was not an easy decision and the German high command struggled over it during the winter of 19161917. The Battle of the Somme was one of the bloodiest encounters of the First World War. 10th West Yorkshire (Prince of Wales Own), 15th West Yorkshire (Prince of Wales Own), 16th West Yorkshire (Prince of Wales Own), 12th York and Lancaster (Sheffield City Battalion), 2nd West Yorkshire (Prince of Wales Own). [38], The Battle of Le Transloy began in good weather and Le Sars was captured on 7 October. The conflict began with a heavy pour of gunfire. Soldiers go over the top at the Battle of the Somme. A British soldier gazes out of a dug-out as the body of a dead German soldier lies nearby. Share this: Twitter Facebook Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window), Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window), Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window), Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window), Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window), Mansell/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images, Royal Engineers No 1 Printing Company/ IWM via Getty Images, https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/battle-of-the-somme. Corps Commander: General Antoine Baucheron de Boissoudy, VI Corps. After failing in 1914-15to break the muddy stalemate of trench warfare, the Allies developed a new plan. On an unsuspecting enemy, Britain unleashed its new secret weapon - the tank. The corps objective was the village of Montauban. At 7.30am on 1 July 1916, 14 British divisions attacked. [24][verification needed], After the Autumn Battles (Herbstschlacht) of 1915, a third defensive position another 3,000 yards (1.7mi; 2.7km) back from the Sttzpunktlinie was begun in February 1916 and was almost complete on the Somme front when the battle began. Thiepval Memorial and Anglo-French Cemetery. the Dorsetshire Regiment raised eleven battalions, whilst the London Regiment managed to raise eighty-eight battalions). [32] German bombardments and counter-attacks began on 23 July and continued until 7 August. I will be attending a service at the Thiepval Memorial near the battlefield, and it's right that the whole country pauses to remember the sacrifices of all those who fought and lost their lives in that conflict. [8] A week later the Germans began the Battle of Verdun against the French army. At the start of the silence, the King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery fired a gun every four seconds for one hundred seconds and a whistle was blown to end it. Thiepval was a fortress village, a British target during the 1916 Battle of the Somme. [34], In the Battle of Ginchy the 16th Division captured the German-held village. The Somme through German eyes While the British Army was bleeding on the fields of France, its outgunned opponents were also suffering a terrible fate. Researching a soldier who fought in WW1? This school of thought sets the battle in a context of a general Allied offensive in 1916 and notes that German and French writing on the battle puts it in a continental perspective. But the French demanded an operation at the point in the Allied line where the two armies met. The latter advocated modest bite and hold tactics, having little confidence abouta breakthrough. [63] Sheffield wrote that the losses were "appalling", with 419,000 British casualties, c.204,000 French and perhaps 600,000 German casualties. View this object. Battle of the Somme, (July 1-Nov. 13, 1916) Allied offensive in World War I. British and French forces launched a frontal attack against an entrenched German army north of the Somme River in France.A weeklong artillery bombardment was followed by a British infantry assault on the still-impregnable German positions. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. The 63rd Division (Royal Naval Division) was made up from Naval Reserves and did not follow this numbering pattern.[2]. In the summer of 1916 the British launched the largest battle of the war on the Western Front, against German lines. He was injured in the arm. The Allied preparatory artillery bombardment began on 24 June and the Anglo-French infantry attacked on 1 July, on the south bank from Foucaucourt to the Somme and from the Somme north to Gommecourt, 2mi (3.2km) beyond Serre. A telephone system was built, with lines buried 6 feet (1.8m) deep for 5mi (8.0km) behind the front line, to connect the front line to the artillery. "[86] On 1 July 2016, a ceremony was held in Heaton Park in north Manchester in England. The attack was made by four divisions on a front of 6,000yd (5.5km) at 3:25 a.m. after a five-minute hurricane artillery bombardment. Corps Commander: General Horace Fernand Achille Pentel, XX Corps. A school of thought holds that the Battle of the Somme placed unprecedented strain on the German army and that after the battle it was unable to replace casualties like-for-like, which reduced it to a militia. An exhibition at Fort Nelson marks 40 Corps Commander: General Paul Chrtien, XXXIII Corps. Some members wanted to take a shorter step back to a line between Arras and Sailly, while the 1st and 2nd army commanders wanted to stay on the Somme. [56][55] Philpott argues that the German army was exhausted by the end of 1916, with loss of morale and the cumulative effects of attrition and frequent defeats causing it to collapse in 1918, a process which began on the Somme, echoing Churchill's argument that the German soldiery was never the same again. The 57,470 casualties suffered by the British, including 19,240 killed, were the worst in the history of the British Army. 1900s 12th Bn, Prince of Wales' Own West Yorkshires, 10th Bn, Princess of Wales's Own Yorkshire Regt, 8th Battalion, King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, 8th Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment, 10th Battalion, Duke of Wellington Regiment, 9th Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment, 9th Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment, 8th Battalion, Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, 9th Battalion, Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, 2nd Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles Regiment, 6th Battalion, South Wales Border Regiment, 18th Battalion, King's Own Royal Regiment, 17th Battalion, King's (Liverpool) Regiment, 16th Battalion (1st City) Manchester Regiment, 19th Battalion (4th City) Manchester Regiment, 19th Battalion, King's (Liverpool)Regiment, 17th Battalion (2nd City) Manchester Regiment, 2nd Battalion, Princess of Wales' Own Yorkshire Regt, 20th Battalion, King's (Liverpool) Regiment, 18th Battalion (3rd City) Manchester Regiment, 2nd Battalion, Duke of Edinburgh's Wiltshire Regiment, 11th Battalion (St.Helens Pioneers) Prince of Wales's Volunteers, 12th Battalion, York & Lancaster Regiment, 13th Battalion, York & Lancaster Regiment, 14th Battalion, York & Lancaster Regiment, 12th Battalion, King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry Regiment. Corps Commander: General Charles Jacquot, I Colonial Corps. The Fourth Army was a field army that formed part of the British Expeditionary Force during the First World War. 16th Colonial Infantry Division, 1st Cavalry Division The Marine Brigade from Flanders and fresh German divisions brought from quiet fronts counter-attacked frequently and the British objectives were not secured until 11 November. [21], French losses at Verdun reduced the contribution available for the offensive on the Somme and increased the urgency for the commencement of operations on the Somme. The battle became notable for the importance of air power and the first use of the tank in September but these were a product of new technology and proved unreliable. When relieved, the brigade had lost 2,536 men, similar to the casualties of many brigades on 1 July. On the Somme the daily carry during attacks on a 12mi (19km) front was 20,000 long tons (20,000t) and a few wood roads and rail lines were inadequate for the number of lorries and roads. Only four more divisions were sent to the Somme front before the Anglo-French offensive began, bringing the total to 10+12 divisions. When a more flexible policy was substituted later, decisions about withdrawal were still reserved to army commanders. Following such was a reviewal noting that the British companies present moved at full-kit due to the overconfidence of general field NCO's to the German Location after witnessing such a bombardment upon their location. [89][90], The Battle of the Somme has been called the beginning of modern all-arms warfare, during which Kitchener's Army learned to fight the mass-industrial war in which the continental armies had been engaged for two years. Supported by an intense artillery bombardment, they caught the Germans by surprise and by mid-morning they had captured the ridge. Most of the British casualties were suffered on the front between the AlbertBapaume road and Gommecourt to the north, which was the area where the principal German defensive effort (Schwerpunkt) was made. An intermediate line of strongpoints (the Sttzpunktlinie) about 1,000 yards (910m) behind the front line was also built. 1/7th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment. When the Fourth Army advance resumed in August, the wisdom of not building light railways which would be left behind was argued by some, in favour of building standard gauge lines. Falkenhayn chose to attack towards Verdun to take the Meuse heights and make Verdun untenable. The attack on Serre failed, although a brigade of the 31st Division, which had attacked in the disaster of 1 July, took its objectives before being withdrawn later. [72], In 1931, Hermann Wendt published a comparison of German and BritishFrench casualties which showed an average of 30 per cent more Allied casualties than German losses on the Somme. Sign up to find out about the latest news from the Royal Armouries, including whats on, stories about our collection, offers from our shop, and ways you can support the Museum. In order to assist their ally, the British launched their attack on the Somme earlier than planned. 62nd Infantry Division 6th Battalion, Duke of Cornwall's Lt.Inf. 17th Infantry Division Across Britain, the scene was repeated as the legacy of the Somme took shape. The Battle of the Somme (1 July - 18 November 1916) was a joint operation between British and French forces intended to achieve a decisive victory over the Germans on the Western Front. National Army Museum, Royal Hospital Road, London, SW3 4HTRegistered Charity Number: 237902. The defenders on the commanding ground north of the road inflicted a huge defeat on the British infantry, who took an unprecedented number of casualties. more ghastly word. The operational objectives of the Anglo-French armies were unfulfilled, as they failed to capture Pronne and Bapaume, where the German armies maintained their positions over the winter. 4th Infantry Division Deverell, 1st Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, 2nd Battalion, Duke of Wellingtons Regiment, 14th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, 16th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, 15th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, 1st Battalion, Duke of Cornwalls Light Infantry, 1/6th Battalion, Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, 1st Battalion, King's Shropshire Light Infantry, 2nd Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment, 1st Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment, 1st Battalion, King's Own Scottish Borderers, 1/1st Battalion, Honourable Artillery Company, 2nd South African Battalion (Natal & OFS), 6th Battalion, King's Own Scottish Borderers, 3rd South African Battalion (Transvaal & Rhodesia), 10th Battalion, Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, 8th Battalion, Duke of Wellington's Regiment, 7th Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment, 6th Battalion, Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment), 5th Battalion, Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Regt, 5th Battalion, King's Shropshire Light Infantry. British troops during the Battle of the Somme, September 1916. The surviving British forces had also gained valuable experience, which would later help them achieve ultimate victory on the Western Front. A further 230,000 shells were fired in the hour before the attack, and when the attacking troops rose from their trenches ten huge mines were exploded. 1/7th Battalion, King's Liverpool Regiment, 1/9th Battalion, King's (Liverpool) Regiment, 1/4th Battalion, Prince of Wales's Volunteers (South Lancashire Regiment), 1/12th (London Rangers) Battalion, London Regiment, 1/5th (London Rifle Brigade) Battalion, London Regiment, 1/13th (Kensington) Battalion, London Regiment, 1/9th (Queen's Victoria Rifles) Battalion, London Regiment, 1/14th (London Scottish) Battalion, London Regiment, 1/16th (Queen's Westminster Rifles) Battalion, London Regiment, (attached to 2nd Indian Cavalry Division), Canadian Cavalry Brigade Machine Gun Squadron, 87th (Canadian Grenadier Guards) Battalion, 12th (Tasmania, S and W Australia) Battalion, 50th (South Australia & Tasmania) Battalion, 52nd (West & South Australia, Tasmania) Battalion, British Expeditionary Force: Commander: General, IX Corps. The objectives of the attack were the villages of Bazentin le Petit, Bazentin le Grand and Longueval which was adjacent to Delville Wood, with High Wood on the ridge beyond. attendance at brewers game today, long beach building codes,