4 Season
15 Episode
World War I: The Great War - Season 3 Episode 3 The Somme
In just one day almost 60,000 British soldiers were killed or wounded. Why was this first day on the Somme such a disaster for the British? World War I, trenches and barbed wire ran across the entire continent of Europe from the Mediterranean to the North Sea. At 7:30am on July 1st, 1916, after a devastating artillery bombardment lasting more than a week, 100,000 British soldiers waited in their trenches ready to advance on the German lines. They'd been told to expect minimal resistance, but as they picked their way slowly across no-man's-land, guns opened fire. Shells burst overhead, and waves of men were machine-gunned down. It was a military catastrophe of unprecedented proportions.
- Year: 2009
- Country:
- Genre: Documentary, War & Politics
- Studio: History
- Keyword: world war i
- Director:
- Cast: