World War One Sources

... rmans attention from Verdun, where the French were suffering particularly badly, elsewhere. The German line at the Somme was very strong and if the allies were to penetrate it then it would seriously damage moral at home in Germany. 400,000 men were attacking a trench line 28 miles long. The allies heavily bombarded the German line with shells for days on end and when at last it stopped the allies, expecting all to be dead and the wire to be crushed, walked slowly in a line across no-man's land towards the German trenches. However the shells had merely made craters, making it harder for the men to cross and the barbed wire was so mutilated making it even harder to get through. After the infantry the cavalry was supposed to charge in killing the remaining Germans and take back the Somme. All this in theory sounded excellent but it reality the soldiers were sitting targets for the Germans to shoot at and mow down (walk very slowly in a straight line). If the German trenches were not so advanced then perhaps this battle plan may have had more of an effect but because the German trenches were literally and underground network of tunnels all they had to do was wait in the tunnels for the ...