Battle of the Somme

A Sunlit Picture of Hell: Battle of the Somme

By O’Brien Brown

Early in the morning of July 1, 1916, a mist blanketed the lolling hills of the Somme region of northwestern France. Read more

Battle of the Somme

A Hobbit on the Somme

By O’Brien Browne

Smoke and ash drifted across the shattered ground. Dead faces peered up with lidless eyes from pools of stagnant water. Read more

Battle of the Somme

Hitler’s Experience in the Trenches of the Great War

By Kirk A. Freeman

In the months before the outbreak of World War I, 25-year-old Adolf Hitler was living the starving artist’s life in the Bavarian city of Munich, selling his paintings door-to-door and in the city’s numerous beer halls. Read more

Battle of the Somme

World War I’s Battle of the Somme: New Photographs

World War I’s Battle of the Somme was a grueling four-month battle involving French, British and German forces. It was one of the larger and more memorable conflicts in the war, with an estimated one million soldiers killed or wounded. Read more

Battle of the Somme

Dark Days of Spring

By Mark Simmons

In the early hours of May 14, 1940, General Alphonse Georges, the French commander of the northeast front, received bad news at his headquarters, the small but elegant 18th-century Chateau des Bondons, an hour’s drive east of Paris near the River Marne. Read more

Battle of the Somme

The “Big Wing” Controversy and Hugh Dowding’s Fall From Grace

By Jon Diamond

In the summer of 1940, the vaunted Luftwaffe, fresh from its victories in the skies of France and the Low Countries, began its aerial assault in an attempt to either bring Britain to “peace” terms or destroy the Royal Air Force as a prelude to Operation Sea Lion, the invasion of southeastern England. Read more

Battle of the Somme

Tank Killers on the Western Front

By Arnold Blumberg

The Somme offensive, which began on July 1, 1916, had by late that month deteriorated into a series of small, costly actions. Read more

Battle of the Somme

General Arthur Percival: a Convenient Scapegoat?

By Jon Diamond

On February 15, 1942, the island fortress of Singapore surrendered with 130,000 men, thus ending the defense of Malaya as one of the largest military disasters in the history of British arms since Cornwallis’s capitulation to Franco-American forces at Yorktown in 1781 during America’s Revolutionary War. Read more

Battle of the Somme

The Machine Gun’s Role at the Battle of the Somme

by Michael Haskew

The British soldiers that left the relative safety of their trenches to go over the top on the first day of the Battle of the Somme on July 1, 1916, may well have expected that a week-long artillery bombardment of German positions had either killed every enemy soldier to their front or so incapacitated them that the attack would be an easy success. Read more

Battle of the Somme

Memorial Day

By James Hart

Since its first inception as “Decoration Day” in 1868, Memorial Day has served as an important reminder regarding those who died in service to their country. Read more

Battle of the Somme

American Poet Alan Seeger at the Battle of the Somme

by Michael Haskew

Among the French soldiers awaiting the signal to assault German positions at Belloy-en Santerre during the Battle of the Somme, American poet Alan Seeger no doubt contemplated his probable fate on July 4, 1916, ironically the holiday celebrating the independence of his native United States. Read more

Battle of the Somme

General Douglas Haig at the Battle of the Somme

by Michael Haskew

A century after the bloody Battle of the Somme of 1916 left at least 1.2 million British, French, and German soldiers killed, wounded, or captured, General Douglas Haig, commander of the British Expeditionary Force, remains one of the most controversial generals to emerge from World War I. Read more

Battle of the Somme

The Battle of the Somme: Offensive At All Costs?

by Michael Haskew

In February 1916, Allied military leaders met at Chantilly, in the Picardy region of France to discuss grand strategy as World War I entered its second full year. Read more

Battle of the Somme

The Battle of the Somme: Capturing Thiepval Ridge

by Michael Haskew

The high ground at World War I’s Thiepval Ridge commanded the surrounding area along the banks of the Ancre River and another nearby waterway, the Somme. Read more

Battle of the Somme

The Birth of Tank Warfare at the Battle of the Somme

By Michael Haskew

“We heard strange throbbing noises, and lumbering slowly towards us came three huge mechanical monsters such as we had never seen before,” remembered Bert Chaney, a 19-year-old officer in the Signal Corps of the British Army. Read more

Battle of the Somme

An American at the Battle of the Somme

By Michael Haskew

Henry Augustus “Harry” Butters, Jr., was born in San Francisco, California, on April 28, 1892. He was educated both in his native country and in Great Britain. Read more

Battle of the Somme

How World War 1 Reshaped The Course of Europe

by Mike Haskew

On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, visited the city of Sarajevo and were assassinated by Gavrilo Princip, a 20-year-old Yugoslav nationalist. Read more