It’s been 100 years since the start of one of history’s bloodiest battles

By Jeremy Bender From Business Insider

Friday July 1 marked the 100th anniversary of the start of the Battle of the Somme. Somme, estimated to be the bloodiest in World War I, lasted for five months.

The first day of the battle was the worst single day in the history of the British Army’s overall casualties with nearly 60,000 dead or wounded.

 

Despite appalling losses, the battle produced minimal gains for either side. The remainder of the battle quickly devolved into trench warfare, and upwards of 1,250,000 soldiers were killed or wounded before the battle ended on November 1, 1916.

Attached, we have pulled archival images from the archives that show the terror of the battle.

IMAGES:
battle of somme wwi Canadian soldiers leave trenches during the Battle of the Somme, France in 1916.W.I. Castle/Library and Archives Canada/via REUTERS
Shrapnel bursts over a reserve trench above Canadian lines during the Battle of the Somme, in France, 1916.
W.I. Castle/Library and Archives Canada/Handout via REUTERS

1916 An archive picture shows soldiers and horses amid a destroyed spot on the battlefield at Maurepas on the Somme front, northern France October 1916.
Collection Odette Carrez/Reuters
Canadian stretcher bearers carry the dead from a battlefield during the Battle of the Somme, France in July,1916.
Dept. of National Defence/Library and Archives Canada/via REUTERS
Wounded are dressed in a trench during the Courcelette operation of the Battle of the Somme, France on September 15, 1916.
William Ivor Castle/Canada. Dept. of National Defence/Library and Archives Canada/via Reuters

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