Battle of the Somme 100 years ago

100 Years Ago

PowerPoint Show by Andrew

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Relaxing before the carnage: Heartbreaking photos of troops on the eve of the Somme 100 years ago shortly before they went 'over the top' on the bloodiest single day in British military history.

Exhausted soldiers of the 9th Rifle Brigade take a break — and a chance to have a smoke — in a field away from the front line. From left, Second Lieutenant Walter Elliott, who was killed on November 20, 1916, Second Lieutenant Roger Kirkpatrick, wounded (date unknown), Captain Herbert Garton, who was killed on September 15, 1916, Lieutenant Evelyn Southwell, killed on September 15, 1916, and Second Lieutenant Herman Kiek, wounded on April 27, 1918.

Officers of the 9th Rifle Brigade bathing in a stream behind the lines are (from left, excluding obscured faces): Captain Arthur Mckinstry — wounded, Second Lieutenant William Hesseltine, killed August 21, 1916, Captain William Purvis, wounded September 15, 1916, Second Lieutenant Joseph Buckley, killed December 23, 1917, Lieutenant Morris Heycock, wounded August 22, 1916, Captain Eric Parsons, killed September 15, 1916, Second Lieutenant Sidney Smith (in background) killed August 25, 1916, and Second Lieutenant Walter Elliott, killed November 20, 1916.

Smiling confidently in their trench beneath a clear blue springtime sky are two officers of the 11th Royal Fusiliers: Lieutenant Richard Hawkins, left, was wounded in February, 1917, during the final push on the Somme prior to German evacuation. Second Lieutenant George Cornaby, right, was killed on September 23, 1918, only weeks before the end of the war.

Officers of the 1/4th East Yorkshire Regiment enjoy an alfresco lunch beside their tents. Captain William Batty, right, died on October 25, 1916. A note on the rear of the photograph confirms the other unidentified men did not survive the war.

Wading through a trench on the Somme are Major Beauchamp Magrath (left) of the 8th East Lancashire Regiment, killed on June 2, 1916, and Captain Paul Hammond, right, who died on February 25, 1916. The other two soldiers are not identified.

Second Lieutenant Eric Anderson, left, of the 1/6th Seaforth Highlanders, takes time out to chat to a woman in the small hamlet of Bouzincourt. He was killed on November 13, 1916, at the storming of the village Beaumont Hamel which had been occupied by the Germans for two years.

Keeping up appearances: Captain John Macdougall, of the 1/6th Seaforth Highlanders, has a morning shave in a trench near the village of Autuille in late 1915 — he was wounded early the following year.

The seated man (left) is Lance Corporal Andrew Blackstock, of the 1/6th Seaforth Highlanders, who was wounded three times but survived the war. Captain William Johnson (right), of the 18th Manchester Regiment, was photographed by a friend on the afternoon of July 1, 1916, walking along a captured German trench. He was killed six hours later.

The man leaning in the doorway is Captain Richard Vaughan Thompson, of the 11th Royal Fusiliers, who was killed in the attack on Thiepval on September 26, 1916.

The Somme in color: Photos capture the lives of Tommies on the frontline.

These photographs capture how British soldiers lived while on the battlefield of the Somme.

Tommies are seen tending to injured German prisoners, cooking together and watching from the lines as mines exploded.

The images even show a visit to the front by King George V. 

Two soldiers look out from a ramshackle hut that served as their home on the frontline during the Battle of the Somme in 1916.

Three soldiers sit around a fire on ornate dining chairs as they cook a meal in a steel helmet near Miraumont-le-Grand.

A solider leads a horse laden with dozens of pairs of trench boots through thick mud as the British Army continues the Somme offensive.

A sign reading 'pack transport this way' sticks out among leafless trees stripped by artillery fire near the frontline of the Somme battle.

A group of soldiers hang up clothes as they relax outside a shelter near the trenches of the battle of the Somme.

A Boche prisoner, wounded and muddy is led along a railway track as soldiers return from another push on the battlefield.

A group of soldiers line up behind a gun playfully etched with 'Somme gun' as they enjoy a light-hearted moment amid the carnage.

Carrying heavy packs and metal helmets, a group of soldiers continue their journey across a landscape littered with shrapnel and debris.

Commander explaining the capture of Thiepval to H.M. King George V from the top of the Thiepval Chateau.

A soldier looks over exploding mines designed to clear the way for advancing troops during the Somme offensive.