In which year did 'The Battle of the Somme' take place?

The Battle of the Somme, also known as the Somme Offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 November 1916 on both sides of the upper reaches of the River Somme in France. The battle was intended to hasten a victory for the Allies and was the largest battle of the war's Western Front.

More than three million men fought in the battle and one million men were wounded or killed, making it one of the bloodiest battles in human history. Trench warfare gave the Germans an advantage because they dug their trenches deeper than the Allied forces, which gave them a better line of sight. Although casualties were needless, many of the British troops were noted for advancing at a standard pace of 200 meters by the survivors of the bloody engagement. They stated that such a pace was needless bloodshed when they should have been sprinting towards the first crater they saw and ducking.

More Info: en.wikipedia.org

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Morton Bartlett

My Granddad served with Otago Mounted Rifles (NZ Mounted Rifles) but fought at the Somme as Infantry, badly wounded 25/9/16,(Air burst) spent a year in hospital and rehab and discharged Unfit for military Service due to wounds received

Fred Keogh

The British troops could not advance any faster.They were carrying around 60lbs of kit on their backs, all they needed to take and hold the German trenches. The Artillery had been barraging the German trenches for weeks and the understanding of the time was that hardly any Germans would survive the Barrage. The barrage did not do the job intended, and most of the German barbed wire was intact due to the wrong type of shell being used, and most of the German soldiers were deep enough underground to survive any shelling. The British had 19,240 men killed on the first day, with a further 36,230 wounded. A total of 55,470 casualties, the worst ever for a British Army.

John McLaughlin

My Great Uncle served with the Black Watch. He was in France from 1914-1918. He lived into his 70's. Allies lost ~30,000 casualties the first day of Battle.

Ian Paul Jenkins

Every single soldier in my view was is/was a hero. RIP.

bvspurrell

My Great great uncle was killed in the Battle of the Somme at Beaumont-Hamel 01 July 2016. He served with the original group of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment. His body was never recovered... R.I.P.

Chrissie

Me too, Chriss Crockford - Jim was 16. In 2015 I had the privilege of visiting his grave, the first family member to do so. Have been back several times since, once with my mother. We were both much moved.