Events of WWI

3 Important Battle Sites

The Somme

Verdun

Ypres

The Somme

The SommeOn 1st July, 1916, after a week of

artillery bombardment the British launched the now infamous "Big Push" attack across the river Somme. They intended to breakthrough the German defenses in a matter of hours. The battle however, lasted four months.

The Somme

The Lochnagar Crater

The Somme

The SommeThe troops marched in uniform

lines towards the enemy across no-man's land. The failure of the artillery bombardment to dislodge much of the German barbed wire, or to destroy machine-gun posts, led to one of the biggest slaughters in military history.

The Somme

The Battle of the SommeWhen the attack began the

Germans dragged themselves out of their dugouts, manned their posts and destroyed the oncoming waves of British infantry.

The Somme

The Somme

The SommeWhen the offensive was

eventually called off the British were still 3 miles short of their objectives.

The Battle of the SommeTotal losses on the Allied side

numbered 419,654 with German casualties between 450,000 and 680,000.

First Aid Post Somme

The Somme

The Somme

The Somme

Verdun

The Battle of Verdun was a ten month long ordeal between the French and German armies.

VerdunThe battle was

part of an unsuccessful German campaign to take the offensive on the western front.

VerdunBoth the French

and German armies suffered with an estimated 540,000 French and 430,000 German casualties and no strategic advantages were gained for either side.

VerdunThe Battle of Verdun

is considered one of the most brutal events of World War I, and is remembered as the "battlefield with the highest density of dead per square yard.”

VerdunThe German attack began on February 21, 1916

with an intense artillery bombardment of the forts surrounding Verdun.

VerdunAlthough three French forts near Verdun had

fallen to German forces, Verdun itself remained undefeated. The Germans were eventually removed from the three forts.

Verdun Today

YpresThere were three significant battles fought

around Ypres during the War.

YpresYpres is notable for the first use of poison gas by

the Germans.

YpresThe Battle of Passchendaele, one of the most

famous of WWI, was fought here for four months.

YpresBy the time the offensive was called off total

casualties for both sides had been approximately 250,000.

YpresOne of the central objectives, the village

of Passchendaele (taken on November 6 by Canadians), lent its name to the whole conflict.

Ypres

Ypres