Somme - Separate Armies, Different Plans

Battles of the First World War Podcast

Mike Cunha

History

4.8 • 812 Ratings

🗓️ 18 June 2016

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The Germans attack at Verdun and wreak havoc on the Franco-British plans for the Somme offensive. As the Mill on the Meuse pulls ever more French soldiers into the fire, the British Expeditionary Force takes on a larger role in the coming battle. By the end of May GEN Sir Douglas Haig confirms the BEF will lead the Somme attack on 1 July 1916.

The weeks go by and while stating their goals remain the same, the British and French leadership each plan different operations for the same battle. One army looks to carry out a battle of attrition. The other army plans to break through the German trench line and restart the war of movement.

Transcript

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0:00.0	The amount of ammunition will be very large indeed.
0:08.3	General Sir Douglas Haig, the Psalm, 1916. Hey, folks.
0:34.8	Welcome to the Battles of the First World War podcast, episode three, Assam, separate armies, different plans.
0:50.1	On February 21st, 1916, 1,200 German guns opened up on the French salient around Verdun,
1:00.0	blasting the huddling French defenders in a hurricane of fire that could be felt 150 kilometers away.
1:10.0	Despite unexpectedly determined French resistance in the shattered front line trenches,
1:16.6	within days men of the German 5th Army had broken through the lines and captured Fort Duomo,
1:24.6	the linchpin of the Verdun-Salient.
1:28.8	By February 28th, the German drive had stalled in the face of a now ferocious French
1:35.3	defense, but the mill on the meuse had started.
1:40.3	Neither side was going to quit, and with the French defense taken over by General Philippe Pettin, a continuous river of men and war material flowed into the volcano at Verdun.
1:53.5	It was the beginning of a ten-month struggle that would be dominated by a constant deluge of murderous artillery.
2:05.4	General Sir Douglas Haig was known to frequently say that no plan survived first contact with the enemy.
2:14.8	The Battle of Verdun proved him and the saying correct. Verdon didn't let up. Much to the opposite,
2:23.1	the battle began to pull in ever more numbers of Frenchmen as Béthons struggled to hold the line
2:28.9	while swapping out decimated infantry divisions with fresh ones. By the end of March, the French had taken nearly 90,000 casualties.
2:40.3	The Germans found themselves at 81,000.
2:46.6	This wreaked havoc with a battle plan for the joint Franco-British offensive on the Somme.
2:53.6	The Puelloos allotted to make the attack on the Somme were now being thrown into the fire at Verdun.
3:00.6	And shortly, the forty divisions originally planned for were cut down to just over 20.
3:08.9	The French grimly hung on at Verdant as battalions,
3:12.6	regiments, and divisions bled out in days.
	...

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