1 July to 18 November 1916

The Somme Offensive

"While I write, the din outside is a veritable hell of sound. Shells are bursting everywhere and our great masses of Canadian artillery are adding their deep bass to the terrible anthem."

In 1916, Allied commanders planned a massive offensive in the west in conjunction with offensives on the Russian and Italian fronts. The idea was to overwhelm German defenses in the rolling countryside of the Somme River valley and break the attritional deadlock on the Western Front. Originally intended as a joint French-British offensive, French participation had to be drastically curtailed as a result of the German offensive at Verdun, which began in February. Accordingly, the Somme offensive became mainly a British operation and its launch date was advanced to help relieve pressure on the French at Verdun.

The battle opened on 1 July 1916 when more than 100,000 British and Dominion troops emerged from their trenches and advanced methodically towards the German lines. The concentrated artillery barrage had failed to destroy the German positions and the enemy had time to man their machine guns and inflict horrendous slaughter on the advancing British. Before the day’s carnage had ended nearly 58,000 British troops had become casualties – the worst single day’s loss in the history of British arms. Among them were the men of the Newfoundland Regiment which was attached to the British 29th Division. At Beaumont-Hamel the Newfoundlanders advanced into the teeth of German machine-gun fire and were virtually annihilated. Many of the men were bunched together as they struggled to break through the few gaps in the barbed wire and became easy targets. Of the regiment’s more than 800 men, 310 were killed and only 68 unwounded men answered the roll call the next day. The sacrifices of these men are commemorated at the Newfoundland Beaumont-Hamel Memorial.

A diagram from a soldier's instructional book shows the different components and elements which make up a trench. — Diagram of Trench Elements

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Before even engaging the Germans, Allied soldiers had to climb out of their sunken trenches, which provided shelter from enemy fire. They then had to make their way through their own barbed wire, before reaching the unprotected expanse of No Man's Land. This "Instruction diagram for constructing a reverted fire-trench with bays and traverses" is labelled with letters, but no legend is provided. Exact measurements are provided for some elements, but others are described only vaguely ( "as steep as possible", "about 2 paces", a "slight fall" or "one rifle length"). Also labelled are the "Traverse" and "Ground line". The diagram provides a good view of the size and construction of trenches.
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Black and white photograph. Men stand on a small hill and pull a tarp off of a large sculpture of a caribou. — Beaumont-Hamel Monument

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Remaining members of the regiment, loved ones, and military officials gather to pay their respects at the monument to the Royal Newfoundland Regiment at Beaumont-Hamel in 1925.
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Black and white photograph. An expanse of muddy battlefield is shown; debris is everywhere. A tree stands in the centre. A piece of trench can be seen to the right. — The Danger Tree

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This is part of the Somme battlefield. Lone trees were used as mustering points. At Beaumont-Hamel, the Danger Tree lay just beyond the Newfoundlanders' own barbed wire. On 1 July 1916, many men were killed there after the Germans realized it was a meeting point and began concentrating fire on the spot.
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Black and white photograph. A large group of Newfoundlander soldiers pose for a regimental photo. — Newfoundland Regiment

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These are some of the men of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment posted to the Somme after their evacuation from Gallipoli, circa 1916.
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At the end of August, with the costly Somme offensive sputtering, the Canadian Corps was transferred from Ypres to the Somme front, establishing itself opposite the shattered village of Courcelette. On 15 September, the Canadians assaulted Courcelette along a two-kilometre front, following the recently devised “creeping” artillery barrage system whereby the troops advanced as closely as possible to the exploding shells which would jump ahead at precisely timed intervals. This enabled the Canadians to approach close to the enemy before the latter had a chance to emerge from their dug outs and man their defensive machine guns. The seizure of Courcelette was perhaps the most successful moment of the Somme campaign up to that point. It also saw the first use of tanks (only 13 of them) on the Western Front.

The newly arrived 4th Canadian Division arrived on the Somme in October for its baptism of fire at which time the exhausted Canadian Corps was withdrawn to the Arras-Lens sector, further north. In November, the 4th Division captured Regina Trench, fighting through a sea of chalky mud and overcoming fierce enemy resistance. The Somme Campaign was over after five months and more than 624,000 British, Dominion, and French casualties. Among them were 24,000 Canadians. The Germans admitted to overall losses of 466,000. Notwithstanding the seizure of enemy-held territory to a depth of up to 13 kilometres along 35 kilometres of front, the campaign did nothing to alter the strategic situation on the Western Front.