To day I will think about members of my family particularly:
Thomas Swindells (1898 – 1916) who died on the first day of the Somme
George Paysden (1895 – 1916) survived the Somme but later died at Bailleul
Also thinking about my cousin John Beck (1956 -1979) KIA.
I will honour and remember them
The Battle of the Somme was a battle of the First World War fought by the British and French armies against the Germans. It took place between 1 July and 18 November 1916.
It is estimated that there were 57,470 British casualtise on the first day of the Somme. Of these, 19,240 men died. The French had 1,590 casualties and the German 2nd Army lost 10,000–12,000 men. Few British troops reached the German front line.
The British troops on the Somme included Pals battalions, recruited from the same places or were of similar occupations. Over 2,000 of those killed on the first day were from the Ulster Division. In total 50,000 Irishmen were killed while serving in the British, Commonwealth or US armies in World War One.
The German defence south of the road mostly collapsed and the French had “complete success” on both banks of the Somme, as did the British from Maricourt on the army boundary, where XIII Corps took Montauban and reached all its objectives and XV Corps captured Mametz and isolated Fricourt.
The Battle of the Somme damaged the German Army beyond repair, after which it was never able to adequately replace its casualties with the same calibre of soldier that doggedly held its ground during most of the battle.