On July 1st, 1916, over 100,000 British soldiers climbed out of their trenches and walked in long straight lines toward the German positions. By the end of the day, almost 20,000 of them were gone and 37,000 more were wounded, roughly one man every four seconds for the entire day.
This video covers how the Battle of the Somme came together, starting with the Pals battalions where men from the same streets and towns were allowed to enlist and...
On July 1st, 1916, over 100,000 British soldiers climbed out of their trenches and walked in long straight lines toward the German positions. By the end of the day, almost 20,000 of them were gone and 37,000 more were wounded, roughly one man every four seconds for the entire day.
This video covers how the Battle of the Somme came together, starting with the Pals battalions where men from the same streets and towns were allowed to enlist and serve together. You'll learn why the week-long artillery bombardment that was supposed to destroy German resistance failed, how 30% of the shells never exploded and two-thirds were the wrong type to cut wire or collapse dugouts, and why soldiers carrying 66 pounds of equipment were ordered to walk rather than run across open ground.
The video gets into what the Germans had built during 18 months of quiet on this sector: dugouts 30 to 40 feet underground in solid chalk, machine gun positions on high ground with clear views, and barbed wire 16 rows deep in places. When the bombardment lifted, German crews came up from their shelters and found lines of British soldiers walking slowly toward them across 500 yards of open ground. The battle continued for another four and a half months. Over one million casualties on both sides for a maximum gain of seven miles.
Chapters:
0:00 Statistics Don't Show the Real Horror
3:09 White Feathers in the Street
8:44 30% of the Shells Were Duds
12:37 They Were Ordered to Walk
17:15 Then the Casualty Lists Arrived
Script written by: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreja-rakocevic/
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Unbelievable True Stories covers the forgotten and surprising corners of history.
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Unbelievable True Stories covers the forgotten and surprising corners of history.
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