Allied war strategy for 1916 was decided at the Chantilly Conference from 6th to 8th December 1915. Simultaneous offensives on the Eastern Front by the Russian army, on the See more

First phase: 1–17 July 1916
Battle of Albert, 1–13 July
The Battle of Albert was the first two weeks of Anglo-French offensive operations in the Battle of the Somme. The Allied preparatory artillery bombardment began on 24 June … See more

At the start of 1916, most of the British Army was an inexperienced and patchily trained mass of volunteers. The Somme was a great test for Kitchener's Army, created by Kitchener's call for recruits at the start of the war. The British volunteers were often the … See more

The Battle of the Somme has been called the beginning of modern all-arms warfare, during which Kitchener's Army learned to fight the mass-industrial war in which the continental armies had been engaged for two years. This view sees the British contribution to the … See more

Anglo-French plan of attack
French losses at Verdun reduced the contribution available for the offensive on the Somme and increased the urgency for the commencement … See more

Ancre, January–March 1917
After the Battle of the Ancre (13–18 November 1916), British attacks on the Somme front were … See more

In the United Kingdom and Newfoundland, the Battle of the Somme became the central memory of World War I. The Royal British Legion with the British Embassy in Paris and the See more