An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir July/August 2016 www.dfmagazine.ie 34 | by PAUL O'BRIEN MA T housands of soldiers, laden down with rifles, packs, extra ammuni- tion, and entrenching tools, scrambled over the parapet of their trenches into No Man's Land. the shrill blasts of officers' whistles still resounded in the ears of many as they slowly walked out through the smoke towards the German lines. It was July 1st 1916, and the beginning of what became known as the Somme offensive, or to others, 'the bloodiest day in british military history'. At the Chantilly conference in December 1915, Allied commanders decided to mount a major offensive on the Western Front in the following year. It was planned for August 1916 but when the situation at Verdun became desperate, it was decided to bring the attack forward to July. Sir Douglas Haig stated that the Somme Offensive had three objectives: to relieve pressure on their French allies who were locked in bloody combat at Verdun; to assist the Russians by preventing the further transfer of Ger- man troops to the Eastern Front; and to wear down the strength of German forces. The main attack force would consist of British and French troops, but other units from Bermuda, India and Newfoundland would also participate in the attack. Thousands of British soldiers who had answered General Kitchener's call and enlisted in the Pals Battalions, formed up ready for action. On the eve of the of- fensive, 2/Lt Frank Potter wrote a letter home to his parents: My Dearest Mother and Father, This is the most difficult letter I have ever sat down to write. We are going into an attack tomorrow and I shall leave this to be posted if I don't come back. It is a far bigger thing than I have ever been in before and my only hope is that we shall help in a victory that will bring the war nearer to a successful conclusion. I am hoping to have the nerve to keep my end up and do my share – that is all that worries me at present. Of death I haven't any fears… The worst of war is that one's people at home have to bear all the sacrifice and suffering. For my part I am content and happy to give my services and life to my country, but it is not my sacrifice, Mother and Dad, it is yours… My fondest love to all at home Your loving son Frank xxxxxxx 1 The Allies had learned that previous attacks against carefully prepared, fixed positions were unlikely to succeed. To counteract this they planned a mas- sive artillery bombardment to destroy the German trenches and dugouts, and obliterate the barbed-wire obstacles in No Mans Land. The bombardment commenced on June 24th when 1,437 guns unleashed a barrage of fire against the German lines. Over the next seven days 1,500,000 shells were fired, although a number were duds and failed to explode, while others, designed to burst on impact, failed to destroy the barbed-wire defences. This artillery barrage

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