Better Than The Best

At 7:30 am, the 86th and the 87th Brigade of the 29th Infantry Division attacked, but failed to clean out and occupy the German lines. The Newfoundland Battalion, as part of 88th Brigade, was ordered to reinforce the effort and …

1916-07-01

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At 7:30 am, the 86th and the 87th Brigade of the 29th Infantry Division attacked, but failed to clean out and occupy the German lines. The Newfoundland Battalion, as part of 88th Brigade, was ordered to reinforce the effort and started to march with the hope of taking the enemy's line of defence. This part of the battlefield, aleady shelled for over a week by British artillery of all calibres was hit again that morning by the most intense British bombardment. The troops had hardly gotten clear of their own trenehes and their own barbed wire when they encountered the fire from the machine guns, shrapnel and high explosives from the enemy. The British shelling did not seem in any way to have interfered with the preparedness of the Germans. The Newfoundland Battalion moved on, never faltering for a moment, although men and officers were falling all around. This went on until those who were left reached the first line of the enemy's trenehes. it was then seen that the German position could net be taken until further preparations were made by the artillery. The men were then withdrawn.

Beaumont-Hamel, France

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. More than three million men fought in the battle and one million men were wounded or killed, making it one of the deadliest battles in human history.

Wikipedia: Battle of the Somme

German

British