S1E5: The Battle of the Somme (Part I)

Canadian History PodcastCanadian HistoryCanadian Military HistoryCanada WWIWWIThe Second Battle of the SommeSomme

Mar 1

Bringing in the dead, July 1916 / Transport d’un mort, juillet 1916

Horse-drawn ambulance collecting the wounded at advance dressing station close to the front, September 15, 1916

This Jackdaw, found on the Somme in March 1917, was the mascot of the Canadian S.C.

A Canadian Artillery Officer pets a cat who has been with him since the Battle of the Somme

The Allies are growing desperate to break through the German frontlines on the Western Front. To alleviate pressure on the Russians in the east and to turn the tides after the disastrous operations conducted in 1915, a plan for a new offensive is drafted by French Commander-in-Chief Joseph Joffre. Now fully drawn into the war, the British take the lead in planning the offensive at the Somme. Have the British learned from their past mistakes? Or will the stubbornness of its generals push their soldiers right into the fire?

Sources:

Books

Cook, Tim. At the Sharp End. Toronto, Penguin Group (Canada), 2009.

Liddle, Peter. The 1916 Battle of the Somme Reconsidered. South Yorkshire, Pen & Sword Books Ltd., 2016.

Joffre, Joseph J. C. The Personal Memoirs of Joffre - Field Marshal of the French Army Volume II. Translated by Colonel T. Bentley Mott. Arcole Publishing, 2019.

Nicholson, Colonel G.W.L. Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1914-1919: Official History of the Canadian Army in the First World War. Ottawa, Queen’s Printer and Controller of Stationery, 1962.

Rawlinson, Henry. Soldier, Artist, Sportsman - The Life of General Lord Rawlinson of Trent, edited by Major-General Sir Frederick Maurice. Arcole Publishing, 2017.

Sebag-Montefiore, Hugh. Somme - Into the Breach. Penguin Books Ltd., 2016.

Warner, Philip. Field Marshal Earl Haig. London, The Bodley Head Ltd., 1991.

Academic Journals

Colonel Christopher M. Deverell British Army. “Haig versus Rawlinson – Manoeuvre versus Attrition: The British Army on the Somme, 1916.” Defence Studies, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp 124-137.

Websites

Canada, V. A. (2021, June 23). “Battle of Beaumont-Hamel.” Veterans Affairs Canada. https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/battles-and-stages/battle-of-beaumont-hamel. Accessed January 28, 2022.

Dubreuil, B., & Marshall, T. (2014, July 28). “The Newfoundland Regiment at Beaumont-Hamel.” The Canadian Encyclopedia. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/battle-of-beaumont-hamel. Accessed January 13, 2022.

Roy, R. H., & Foot, R. (2006, December 21). “Canada and the battle of the Somme.” The Canadian Encyclopedia. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/battle-of-the-somme. Accessed January 12, 2022.

Sass, E. (2016, July 17). “WWI Centennial: Battle of Bazentin Ridge.” Mental Floss. https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/83219/wwi-centennial-battle-bazentin-ridge. Accessed January 13, 2022.

Parmentier, Romain. “The Battle of Verdun - The Horror of Trench Warfare.” Translated by Carly Probert." 50 Minutes. https://www.scribd.com/read/310498516/The-Battle-of-Verdun-The-Horror-of-Trench-Warfare. Accessed February 2022.

“The generals who infighting lost the battle of the Somme.” History Extra. https://www.historyextra.com/period/first-world-war/british-generals-infighting-lost-battle-of-the-somme/. Accessed February 2022.

Epic History. “WWI: Battle of the Somme 1916.” YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqvALkpsfRo&t=181s. Accessed February 2022.

Epic History. “World War One 1915.” YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqvALkpsfRo&t=181s. Accessed February 2022.

Epic History. “World War One 1916.” YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-b746J2SdI. Accessed February 2022.

Canadian History PodcastCanadian HistoryCanadian Military HistoryCanadaThe Battle of the SommeWWIWorld War OneThe Great WarSomme1916

Shawna Morrison

S1E5: The Battle of the Somme (Part I)

S1M4: Heroes on the Somme

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