The First Day of the Somme

After walking the length of the 1 July Somme front line with a group of friends, I vowed to one day publish a guidebook for others to follow in our footsteps.

Our guidebook, entitled The First Day of the Somme, does just that and takes the battlefield visitor along the 1 July front line from Gommecourt in the north to Maricourt in the south. Of all our guidebooks, this has been the most enjoyable to prepare. My co-writer, Jon Cooksey, reminded me a few weeks ago that soon we would have written a comprehensive guide to the Western Front stretching from Niewpoort in the Belgian coast to the Aisne valley!

Our guides are written with the underlying principle to present the battlefields as they are today and not to succumb to the temptation of using endless contemporary photographs of destroyed landscapes and devastated buildings. As a result there are plenty of modern photographs that will be instantly recognisable today. Jon and I had numerous discussions about the length of each route presented in the guides, but our decision to keep the distance within a bracket of 10 miles was influenced to some extent by a chance meeting at Spoilbank Cemetery, near Ypres. I cannot remember the individual’s name, but he was an experienced walker, and his advice was to keep our routes relatively short. It was good advice. Thus, in a number of our guides we have, where possible, linked routes together to give the battlefield tourist the choice of extending their walk if they wish. Some routes are considerably shorter than 10 miles, and in the Somme guidebook for instance, the average distance of each of the eleven routes is just under five miles. Another premise we decided upon was that routes must be circular and, mindful of the need for car security, begin from a point that was not isolated and in the middle of nowhere.

The difference between the Somme Guidebook and the others that we have written is that we have concentrated entirely on the 1 July 1916 and the actions that took place on that fateful day. Linking each of the routes is a ‘spine route’ that can either be cycled or driven and, as far as is possible, follows the British front line. Thus, by completing each of the eleven routes and following the connecting spine routes, the battlefield tourist is able to cover the whole of the British sector from Gommecourt to Maricourt. Each of the eleven routes is accompanied by a map, to which we have added the approximate positions of the German and British front lines. While these do not pretend to be completely accurate, they do provide the battlefield tourist with an idea of where the respective front lines were in relation to where they are standing.

We have not drawn specific maps for the spine routes and although the individual route maps do touch on these sectors, the spine routes are best supported by French Institut Géographique National (IGN) 1:100,000 maps which can be purchased at most good tourist offices and online. For the walker and cyclist, the larger scale French 1:25,000 Series maps can be bought in France or online and can be downloaded onto your iPad. To assist you in your choice of route we have also provided a summary of all eleven routes, together with the respective spine route, and an indication as to their suitability for walkers, cyclists or car tourists. You will find this feature in all of our guides along with several appendices and advice on further reading. Those in the Somme guide include the whereabouts of the Soldier Poets who died on the Somme, the men who were awarded the Victoria Cross on 1 July and the British battalions that fought on the first day of the battle.

Many of the battalions that attacked their German counterparts on 1 July were men who had volunteered for service with locally raised ‘Pals’ battalions and were part of Kitchener’s New Army, men who had answered the call of duty early in the war and expected the Somme offensive to end the war. Short on battle experience, but endowed with enthusiasm, these men were witness to the seven day artillery bombardment that began on 24 June, launching over three million shells onto the German forward defences over a seven day period. A number of these battalions were known by the more colloquial term associated with the area from which its men were recruited. Today the 11^th Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment is still often referred to as the ‘Accrington Pals’ while the 13^th Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment will always be known as the ‘1^st Barnsley Pals’.

If we look at the layout of the routes detailed in the guide, the first glance provides the visitor with most of the essential information about the route, the most important being where the route begins, how far it is, where the toilets are and who or what the ground is suitable for:

Route 5 – Beaumont-Hamel