The battle of the Somme started on July the first nineteen sixteen. It lasted until November the thirteenth 1916. For many people the battle of the Somme symbolised the horrors of warfare in world war one. This one battle had an effect on many casualties and families and it seemed to be a perfect example of the futility of trench warfare. For many years those who led the British campaign have received a lot of criticism for the way the Battle of the Somme was fought, especially because of Douglas Haig. Douglas Haig was a British senior officer during World war one. Douglas Haig was Britain’s commander-in-chief during the Somme battle and took much criticism for the sheer loss of life in this battle. He was then given the nickname the butcher of the Somme. A butcher, of course, is someone who kills animals and prepares them to be sold before selling them himself. However, when applied to a person butcher can mean someone who kills heedlessly, brutally or indiscriminately or someone who bungles things, and this is how people felt about him.
On the first of July nineteen sixteen, the British (Haig) and the French (Joffre) planned a joint attack on the German lines. Haig preferred to fight further north but the fought near Bapaume. These actions were planned to relieve some strain on Verdun because the French were in big trouble. Haig hoped that the allies may break through the German lines and bring them victory. This attack resulted in an eighteen day artillery bombardment, in which1537 British guns fired 1,723,873 rounds. This bombardment was so bad that it was said the bombardment could be heard from England. The British and the French set a task for themselves during the bombardment, this task was to reduce the Germans in numbers and power by giving them shell shock, kill the soldiers but also to destroy the barbed wire the Germans built. But unfortunately the allies had problems, first the British and the French shells were not powerful enough to break down into the Germans trenches due to them being up to 9 metres deep. Also the shrapnel balls did not destroy the Barbed wire but instead it tangled and became more impassable after every fire.
There were questions being asked on the task Haig was trying to complete. By August many began asking questions. Due to Haig failing at the tasks he set, Lloyd George lost confidence in him. This shows what respect Haig had and how easily he lost it. Even though Haig’s aim was to break through the German lines and to help Britain’s allie France his actions brought horror and grief to Britain. During the time of the Battle of the Somme a propaganda film was made, designed to encourage support for the war by showing the public what the men were going through for England. But this film ‘backfired alarmingly’ as said by a source. The same source says ‘One wounded soldier had to be led hystericaly from the cinema, and one woman, after a stunned silence, shrieked out:
‘They’re dying!’
These reactions took place all over the country so because of them the film had to be hastily withdrawn. Instead of the film making adults and children feel privileged to have such wonderful