Digging and Dying - To and Through the First Day
The first film is historical fiction; the second is a straight documentary; and the third is a somewhat specialized documentary (a sapper tribute), backgrounding one of the iconic scenes of the First Day.
Note: Youtube videos are often removed, but then reappear. So, if links in this and other posts fail, please search Youtube or Google - the video is probably somewhere.
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The Trench (Wiki and Imfdb)
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The film paints a picture of the soldiers’ emotional experience in the confines of the trenches; an experience running the gamut from boredom to fear, panic to restlessness. Billy MacFarlane (Paul Nicholls), 17, along with his older brother, Eddie (Tam Williams), has volunteered for service. The whole platoon, all of them in their late teens, depend on the war-hardened Sergeant Winter (Daniel Craig) and the scholarly Lieutenant Hart (Julian Rhind-Tutt) for their survival. When word arrives that the platoon will join the first wave of attacks, they do not yet know they will be present when the British Army loses the greatest number of soldiers in a single day in history.
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The Trench is a 1999 World War I film set in the 48 hours prior to the Battle of the Somme on July 1st 1916. The film follows a group of British soldiers from the Royal Fusiliers and captures their experiences during the build-up to the battle. Many of them are led to believe that the imminent action will be a walk-over and that casualties will be minimal due to an ongoing immense bombardment of the German lines. Only the platoon's war-weary Sergeant (an early role for Daniel Craig) truly knows the extent of what the troops will be faced with.
Youtube: The Trench (1999) (1.5 hrs) (240p; HD 720p has been removed from Youtube - the last 10 min in 480p is still here)
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Youtube: The Battle of the Somme (documentary) BBC (1976) (1hr 10min) (480p)
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The Battle of the Somme: A 60th Anniversary Programme: With the letters, diaries and memories of men who took part: The story told by Leo McKern.
This video covers primarily the first day, July 1, 1916.
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Youtube: The Somme Secret Tunnel Wars - BBC full documentary (2013) (1 hr) (360p)
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Beneath the Somme battlefield lies one of the great secrets of the First World War, a recently-discovered network of deep tunnels thought to extend over several kilometres. This lost underground battlefield, centred on the small French village of La Boisselle in Picardy, was constructed largely by British troops between 1914 and 1916. Over 120 men died here in ongoing attempts to undermine the nearby German lines and these galleries still serve as a tomb for many of those men. This documentary follows historian Peter Barton and a team of archaeologists as they become the first people in nearly a hundred years to enter this hidden, and still dangerous, labyrinth.
Military mines were the original weapons of shock and awe - with nowhere to hide from a mine explosion, these huge explosive charges could destroy a heavily-fortified trench in an instant. In order to get under the German lines to plant their mines, British tunnellers had to play a terrifying game of subterranean cat and mouse - constantly listening out for enemy digging and trying to intercept the German tunnels without being detected. To lose this game probably meant death.
As well uncovering the grim reality of this strange underground war, Peter discovers the story of the men who served here, including the tunnelling companies' special military units made up of ordinary civillian sewer workers and miners. He reveals their top secret mission that launched the Battle of the Somme's first day and discovers why British high command failed to capitalise on a crucial tactical advantage they had been given by the tunnellers.
Regards
Mike
Playing to the Home Front
The first film is the classic combat camera image of WWI; the second film is really two stories: (1) a field survey in how the original film was made - and not made; and (2) the journey of two Canadian officers as they follow the steps of the First Newfoundland Regiment on the First Day.
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The Battle of the Somme (Wiki)
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The Battle of the Somme is a 1916 British documentary and propaganda film, shot by two official cinematographers, Geoffrey Malins and John McDowell. The film depicts the British Army in the preliminary and early days of the battle of the Somme (1 July – 18 November 1916). The film had its premiere in London on 10 August 1916 and was released generally on 21 August. The film depicts trench warfare, showing marching infantry, artillery firing on German positions, British troops waiting to attack on 1 July, treatment of wounded British and German soldiers, British and German dead and captured German equipment and positions. A scene where British troops crouch in a ditch then "go over the top", was staged for the camera behind the lines.
The film was a great success, was watched by c. 20 million British people in the first six weeks of exhibition and the film was distributed in eighteen more countries. A second film covering a later phase of the battle, was released in 1917 as The Battle of the Ancre and the Advance of the Tanks. In 1920 the film was preserved in the film archive of the Imperial War Museum and was inscribed on UNESCO's Memory of the World Register. In 2005 the film was digitally restored and in 2008 was released on DVD. The Battle of the Somme is an early example of film propaganda, an historical record of the battle and a popular source of footage illustrating the First World War
Youtube: The Battle of the Somme (1916, 2005) (1.25 hrs) (480p) (silent - no commentary; re-mastered original)
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Battle Of The Somme - The True Story (2006) (Wiki)
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Ninety years ago, one of the bloodiest days in the history of Britain was captured on film. But this shocking footage has never been shown as it was actually filmed. It was combined with staged sequences to create ‘The Battle of the Somme’, a propaganda film designed to rally a grieving nation. In the months and years following the brutal battle, the film was seen by around twenty million people. A cameraman called Geoffrey Malins had been allowed to the front lines on The Somme by the British generals. Along with fellow official cinematographer John McDowell, Malins created a graphic portrayal of trench warfare that showed dying British and German soldiers.
Although the British army had been anticipating a great victory - and were happy to see it commemorated on film – the battle did not go as planned. Malins had been filming the build up to the battle; he thought that he would go on the enemy being decimated. But it all went wrong. By the end of that first day almost 20,000 Allied soldiers were dead - the heaviest battlefield casualties ever inflicted on the British army in a single day. Since then, the film's iconic images have defined the Great War. But, the real story hidden in its footage has remained a mystery.
On that same day, 1st July 1916, men from the First Newfoundland Regiment fighting for Britain went over the top and into history. They were virtually wiped out. Now, as their descendants march back in time to find out what they went through, the silent film shot on The Somme surrenders its secrets. A team of investigators using forensic science work to determine the truth. They identify what is probably the first footage of men falling in battle ever captured on film, putting names to the faces of soldiers frozen in time that lead to their descendants, and releasing words spoken by soldiers on that fateful day, words that have never been heard…until now.
Youtube: Battle Of The Somme - The True Story - Parts 1-8 (1.5 hr total; 480p) (1 of 8, do rest manually) (auto playlist for 8 parts)
Regards
Mike
David: American Divisions
Ten American divisions trained (or were scheduled to train) under British supervision before Pershing pulled the plug on most of them. The American II Corps (27th and 30th Inf. Divs.; both National Guard units) remained under British Imperial commands at Ypres and Bellicourt (breaking the Hindenburg Line). The Rawlinson-Monash plan at Bellicourt worked out badly for the 27th (which was decimated), but well for the 30th.
The latter lucked out because of a dense fog, some decent improvised orders (esp. for the 117th Inf. Reg., which switched from the 30th's far north reserve to its far south attacking force), and good arty and mopping up tactics; but more because of the spectacular success of the 46th British to the 30th's south. The 46th's crossing of the canal allowed the 117th Inf. Reg. of the 30th to link up with the 46th on both sides of the canal. Thus, the 117th gained the handle "Breakthrough", which it carried into WWII (where the ETO historians rated the 30th as the best US infantry division).
Refs:
Yockelson, Borrowed Soldiers: Americans under British Command, 1918 (2008):
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The combined British Expeditionary Force and American II Corps successfully pierced the Hindenburg Line during the Hundred Days Campaign of World War I, an offensive that hastened the war’s end. Yet despite the importance of this effort, the training and operation of II Corps has received scant attention from historians.
Mitchell A. Yockelson delivers a comprehensive study of the first time American and British soldiers fought together as a coalition force—more than twenty years before D-Day. He follows the two divisions that comprised II Corps, the 27th and 30th, from the training camps of South Carolina to the bloody battlefields of Europe. Despite cultural differences, General Pershing’s misgivings, and the contrast between American eagerness and British exhaustion, the untested Yanks benefited from the experience of battle-toughened Tommies. Their combined forces contributed much to the Allied victory.
Yockelson plumbs new archival sources, including letters and diaries of American, Australian, and British soldiers to examine how two forces of differing organization and attitude merged command relationships and operations. Emphasizing tactical cooperation and training, he details II Corps’ performance in Flanders during the Ypres-Lys offensive, the assault on the Hindenburg Line, and the decisive battle of the Selle.
Featuring thirty-nine evocative photographs and nine maps, this account shows how the British and American military relationship evolved both strategically and politically. A case study of coalition warfare, Borrowed Soldiers adds significantly to our understanding of the Great War.
Blair, The Battle of the Bellicourt Tunnel: Tommies, Diggers and Doughboys on the Hindenburg Line, 1918 (2011):
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In November 1918 the BEF under Field Marshal Haig fought a series of victorious battles on the Western Front that contributed mightily to the German army's defeat. They did so as part of a coalition and the role of Australian 'diggers' and US 'doughboys' is often forgotten. The Bellicourt Tunnel attack, fought in the fading autumn light, was very much an inter-Allied affair and marked a unique moment in the Allied armies' endeavors. It was the first time that such a large cohort of Americans had fought in a British army. Additionally, untried American II Corps and experienced Australian Corps were to spearhead the attack under the command of Lieutenant General Sir John Monash with British divisions adopting supporting roles on the flanks.
Blair forensically details the fighting and the largely forgotten desperate German defense. Although celebrated as a marvelous feat of breaking the Hindenburg Line, the American attack failed generally to achieve its set objectives and it took the Australians three days of bitter fighting to reach theirs. Blair rejects the conventional explanation of the US 'mop up' failure and points the finger of blame at Rawlinson, Haig and Monash for expecting too much of the raw US troops, singling out the Australian Corps commander for particular criticism.
Overall, Blair judges the fighting a draw. At the end, like two boxers, the Australian-American force was gasping for breath and the Germans, badly battered, backpedalling to remain on balance. Overall the day was calamitous for the German army, even if the clean break-through that Haig had hoped for did not occur. Forced out of the Hindenburg Line, the prognosis for the German army on the Western Front - and hence Imperial Germany itself - was bleak indeed.
Regards
Mike
Army chiefs 'bungled intelligence from German prisoners that could have stopped Somme
The 100th anniversary of the battle of the Somme's start looms closer, 1st July 2016 and there is a flurry of new books, so this article is part of that.
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British commanders planning for the disastrous Somme offensive misinterpreted detailed intelligence reports that may have prevented the bloodiest day in the Army’s history, a new book on the First World War battle claims. Prisoners taken in the run up to the battle gave their British captors detailed reports of where a massive week-long bombardment had destroyed the German defences and where the shells had been ineffective.
German captives had told the British that sections of their southern defences were badly damaged by the onslaught, but elsewhere the bunkers were deeper and likely to be more resilient.
Link:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016...ners-that-cou/
Very mixed reviews so far:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Somme-Into-...nto+the+Breach
Remembered: It was a dire defeat
Professor Robin Prior, a noted Australian WW1 historian, has a short column on Defence-in-Depth; the first of six comments on this battle.
He starts with:
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The Battle of the Somme is to be remembered or commemorated but hardly celebrated on its hundredth anniversary this year. The battle has a number of distinctive features – few of them pleasant. It was the largest battle, in number of troops committed, ever fought, or likely to be fought by the British army; it also was the most costly in terms of casualties; and in terms of dead and wounded it contains the very worst day in British military history with 57,000 casualties – 19,000 of them dead – on the first day of battle 1 July 1916.
In a pithy line he ends with:
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One hundred years later we must look at the Somme not as a bloody victory or indeed any kind of victory. It was a dire defeat and perhaps the nadir of British command on the Western Front.
Link:https://defenceindepth.co/2016/07/01...ritish-battle/