Monday 20th
November 1916 From our Correspondent in
the Field
If, as looks
likely, the battle of the Somme has come to an end until the Spring, it is time
to reflect on what it has achieved. A total of twenty four villages have been
captured. It is true that the objective for the battle was Bapaume which has
not quite been reached, the Butte de Warlencourt has stood as a German sentry
in the dreadful weather of October and November denying the army their prize,
but still much ground has fallen to our attacks.
Many of these
attacks have been made by untried “Kitchener” battalions, such as the 6th and
7th Bedfords, whose first taste of action was during this battle. Some
formations have already, as a result of their actions of the last five months,
received a reputation as very efficient and deadly fighting formations – not
least 18th (Eastern) and 30th Divisions.
The
casualties have been high. There is no clear word from High Command about the
numbers of dead, wounded and missing from our army, let alone calculations
about the enemy but, given that for every British and Empire attack there was
at least one corresponding German counter-attack, it is unlikely that the enemy
have lost much less than we have(1).
It is clear
that our attacks on the Somme materially aided our allies the French who were
struggling against a vicious German offensive at Verdun. To be engaged in three
major offensives, the Anglo-French offensive on the Somme, their own offensive
at Verdun and the Brusilov Offensive in Russia, must have seriously depleted
German reserves of manpower.
It seems,
therefore, that, though the weather is gloomy, the outlook for the allied cause
in this war is not. We know that Germany is not yet beaten and that severe
fighting will take place in 1917 but we can reasonably expect that victory is
much closer than it was on 1st July this year.
(1) Figures for casualties vary but British and Empire
casualties were probably around half a million, the Germans not far behind or
maybe slightly higher. French casualties probably exceeded 200,000. German
Chief of Staff Erich Ludendorff called the Somme “the muddy grave of the German
field army”.
