{
 "slug": "somme-1916",
 "title": "Battle of the Somme",
 "status": "draft",
 "era": "1900–1918",
 "date_text": "1 July – 18 November 1916",
 "start": "1916-07-01",
 "end": "1916-11-18",
 "war": "World War I",
 "cdb90_war": "WORLD WAR I",
 "place": {
  "name": "Astride the River Somme between Gommecourt and Chaulnes, Somme and Pas-de-Calais départements, France",
  "lat": 50.0156,
  "lon": 2.6975,
  "wikidata": "Q132568"
 },
 "lede": "From 1 July to 18 November 1916 British and French armies attacked the German line astride the Somme, gaining about six miles at a cost of more than a million casualties on both sides. Its meaning, and its human cost, are argued over still.",
 "result": "Indecisive: Anglo-French tactical gains and heavy German attrition, but no breakthrough",
 "result_cdb90": "attacker loss",
 "belligerents": [
  {
   "role": "attacker",
   "name": "British Empire and France (BEF Fourth, Reserve and Third Armies; French Sixth and Tenth Armies)",
   "commanders": [
    "General Sir Douglas Haig",
    "General Sir Henry Rawlinson",
    "General Sir Hubert Gough",
    "General Ferdinand Foch",
    "General Émile Fayolle",
    "General Joseph Alfred Micheler"
   ],
   "strength": {
    "value": null,
    "low": null,
    "high": null,
    "source": "s1"
   },
   "casualties": {
    "value": 624000,
    "low": 600000,
    "high": 700000,
    "source": "s1"
   }
  },
  {
   "role": "defender",
   "name": "German Empire (2nd Army; from 19 July the 1st Army north of the river and 2nd Army south of it)",
   "commanders": [
    "General Erich von Falkenhayn (to late August)",
    "Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg and General Erich Ludendorff (from late August)",
    "Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria",
    "General Fritz von Below",
    "General Max von Gallwitz"
   ],
   "strength": {
    "value": null,
    "low": null,
    "high": null,
    "source": "s1"
   },
   "casualties": {
    "value": 500000,
    "low": 237159,
    "high": 680000,
    "source": "s7"
   }
  }
 ],
 "sections": {
  "background": "By the end of 1915 the Western Front was a continuous line of trenches from the Channel to Switzerland. At Chantilly in December the Allies agreed to attack together on all main fronts in 1916, and Joffre and Haig chose the Somme, where the British and French sectors met, for a combined offensive in which the French were at first to provide the larger share.\n\nThe German attack at Verdun on 21 February 1916 changed that. As French divisions were fed into the mincer on the Meuse, the French contribution on the Somme shrank, and the British, who had been expected to play a supporting role, became the main attackers north of the river. The offensive also became, in part, a means of relieving Verdun, and its date was brought forward.\n\nThe ground suited the defender. The Germans had held the chalk uplands north of the Somme since 1914 and had dug deep dugouts, fortified villages and a second position behind the first, with a third under construction. The British army that would attack was largely new: Kitchener's volunteer divisions, many of them 'Pals' battalions raised from single towns, workplaces or sports clubs, with little experience of a set-piece attack.\n\nSouth of the river, and on the British right north of it, the French Sixth Army under Fayolle, part of Foch's Northern Army Group, faced a weaker German line held by the 2nd Army under Fritz von Below. Haig hoped for a breakthrough towards Bapaume; Rawlinson, commanding the Fourth Army, preferred a methodical 'bite and hold'. The plan that went forward sat uneasily between the two.",
  "forces": "The **British Expeditionary Force** under Haig attacked mainly with Rawlinson's Fourth Army, with a diversion by the Third Army at Gommecourt and, from July, Gough's Reserve Army (later Fifth Army) on the northern flank. Its divisions were a mix of regulars, Territorials and New Army volunteers, joined over the summer by Australians, New Zealanders, Canadians, South Africans, Newfoundlanders and Indian cavalry. Its artillery fired over 1.5 million shells in the preliminary bombardment, but much of it was light shrapnel, ineffective against wire and dugouts, and up to 30 per cent of the shells may have failed to explode.\n\nThe **French Sixth Army** (Fayolle), joined from September by the Tenth Army (Micheler) south of the river, was a veteran force with a far denser concentration of heavy guns per yard of front and infantry that had learnt to advance in small groups by bounds.\n\nThe **German 2nd Army**, split on 19 July into a 1st Army north of the river under Below and a 2nd Army south of it under Gallwitz, defended from deep positions with machine guns sited for interlocking fire. Falkenhayn's insistence that lost ground be retaken by counter-attack, carried out by Below's chief of staff Fritz von Loßberg, cost the Germans heavily. New weapons on both sides included the British Mark I tank and, from September, German Albatros fighters.",
  "course": "CDB90 records the whole battle as engagement 304 (FIRST SOMME) and four of its days as separate engagements; the narrative below names them as it reaches them.\n\n**1 July: the first day.** After a bombardment begun on 24 June, the Hawthorn Ridge mine went up at 07:20 and the rest at 07:28; at 07:30 the infantry left their trenches on a front of about 15 miles. CDB90 engagement 305 (SOMME-FOURTH ARMY ATTACK) covers the Fourth Army's day. From north to south: the Third Army's diversion at Gommecourt failed; VIII Corps was cut down in no man's land before Serre and Beaumont-Hamel; the 36th (Ulster) Division broke into the Schwaben Redoubt north of Thiepval but could not hold it; and astride the Albert–Bapaume road the 8th and 34th Divisions were shattered before Ovillers and La Boisselle. CDB90 engagement 306 (SOMME-OVILLERS) is the 8th Division's attack: 5,121 casualties against 280 in the defending Infantry Regiment 180. In the south XV and XIII Corps took Mametz and Montauban. Beside them, the French Sixth Army overran the German front on both banks, took Assevillers and Herbécourt south of the river and some 2,000 prisoners, for about 1,590 casualties. British losses were 57,470, 19,240 of them killed.\n\n**July: grinding forward.** Through early July the British cleared the woods and villages of the first position at high cost, while the French pressed on south of the river towards Péronne. CDB90 engagement 307 (SOMME-BAZENTIN RIDGE) is the dawn attack of 14 July: four divisions formed up in no man's land by night and went in at about 03:25 behind a short hurricane bombardment, taking the German second position at Bazentin-le-Grand, Bazentin-le-Petit and the south of Longueval. Cavalry of the Deccan Horse and 7th Dragoon Guards rode towards High Wood that evening, but the wood was not held. Then came weeks of attrition: the South Africans in Delville Wood from 15 July, the Australians at Pozières from 23 July, Guillemont (3 September) and Ginchy (9 September). On 12 September the French made their largest attack of the battle north of the river.\n\n**15 September: Flers–Courcelette.** CDB90 engagement 308 (SOMME-FLERS-COURCELETTE) is the opening day of the third phase. At 06:20 the Fourth Army and the Canadians of the Reserve Army attacked with tanks for the first time: 49 were earmarked, 32 reached the start line and about 18 went into action. Flers, Martinpuich, Courcelette and at last High Wood fell; the advance was about 2,500 yards, 3,500 in the centre.\n\n**Autumn.** Morval (25 September) and Thiepval Ridge (26 September) followed, and Combles fell to a joint Anglo-French advance. In October rain turned the chalk to mud; the attacks towards Le Transloy and on the Ancre Heights made little headway, while the French fought for Sailly-Saillisel. The last effort, on the Ancre from 13 November, took Beaumont-Hamel, a first-day objective. Haig closed the offensive on 18 November.",
  "aftermath": "The Allies had advanced about six to seven miles on a front of some 16 miles, short of Bapaume and Péronne. British Empire casualties were about 420,000 and French about 200,000; German losses are the most disputed figure of the battle, with serious estimates ranging from about 240,000 to 680,000 and most modern accounts settling between 450,000 and 600,000.\n\nThe battle cost Falkenhayn his post at the end of August; Hindenburg and Ludendorff replaced him, ordered the Siegfriedstellung (the Hindenburg Line) built behind the Somme from September, and withdrew to it in March 1917. German veterans remembered the Somme as the first true Materialschlacht, a battle of material, and some historians argue it was a German defensive victory (Barton, via s1).\n\nIn Britain it became a byword for futility. The image of brave soldiers sacrificed by incompetent generals took hold between the wars and again in the 1960s. Historians since Terraine, including Sheffield and Philpott, argue that Britain had no strategic alternative in 1916, that the battle helped save Verdun and wore down the German army, and that the BEF learnt there the methods it used to win in 1918; critics such as Prior and Wilson find Haig's conduct of it largely wasteful. The Thiepval Memorial carries more than 72,000 names of British and South African soldiers missing on the Somme. France's considerable share of the battle is often left out of the British story.",
  "wargaming": "The Somme is a campaign, not a battle. The natural game is a single sector on a single day at battalion or company scale (a stand as a platoon or company): Ovillers or La Boisselle on 1 July, Montauban for a British success, the French south bank for a contrast, or a tank-supported attack on Flers. For the operational picture, a division-level map game of the July–November attrition, with fatigue, rotation and replacement modelled, shows why both sides bled.\n\nKey terrain is low but decisive: the spurs and fortified villages from Thiepval to Fricourt, the woods (Mametz, Trônes, Delville, High Wood) that became traps, and the Ancre valley splitting the British front. Command friction should dominate: fixed artillery programmes, barrages that lift on a timetable whether or not the infantry keep up, and messages that take hours to reach anyone who can act on them.\n\nThe decisions are worth arguing over. Should the British have attacked in rushes rather than at a walk, or gone for Rawlinson's limited objectives? Could the French success on 1 July and the Bazentin break-in on 14 July have been exploited with reserves close at hand? Should the tanks have been held back until there were hundreds? On the German side, a player can test Falkenhayn's rule of no ground yielded against an elastic defence. A scoring system based on casualties inflicted and divisions worn out, rather than ground taken, captures the attritional logic better than one built on breakthrough."
 },
 "images": [
  {
   "file": "File:Map of the Battle of the Somme, 1916.svg",
   "kind": "map",
   "caption": "The Somme front, 1 July–18 November 1916: the Allied line at the start, and the ground gained by the end.",
   "url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Map_of_the_Battle_of_the_Somme%2C_1916.svg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=original",
   "thumb": "https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ab/Map_of_the_Battle_of_the_Somme%2C_1916.svg/960px-Map_of_the_Battle_of_the_Somme%2C_1916.svg.png?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail",
   "page": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_the_Battle_of_the_Somme,_1916.svg",
   "licence": "Public domain",
   "licence_url": "",
   "artist": "SVG version, and changes : Grandiose Original map : Worldwari map13 largerview.jpg , US Military Inset map : Giro720 , File:France blank1.svg",
   "credit": "Own work",
   "width": 1204
  },
  {
   "file": "File:Hawthorn Ridge Redoubt mine (1 July 1916) 1.jpg",
   "kind": "photo",
   "caption": "The Hawthorn Ridge mine explodes under the German line before Beaumont-Hamel at 07:20 on 1 July 1916.",
   "url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Hawthorn_Ridge_Redoubt_mine_%281_July_1916%29_1.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=original",
   "thumb": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Hawthorn_Ridge_Redoubt_mine_%281_July_1916%29_1.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled",
   "page": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hawthorn_Ridge_Redoubt_mine_(1_July_1916)_1.jpg",
   "licence": "Public domain",
   "licence_url": "",
   "artist": "Ernest Brooks",
   "credit": "This photograph Q 754 comes from the collections of the Imperial War Museums (collection no. 1900-09)",
   "width": 898
  },
  {
   "file": "File:Tyneside Irish Brigade advancing 1 July 1916.jpg",
   "kind": "photo",
   "caption": "The Tyneside Irish Brigade advances towards La Boisselle on the morning of 1 July 1916.",
   "url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Tyneside_Irish_Brigade_advancing_1_July_1916.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=original",
   "thumb": "https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fe/Tyneside_Irish_Brigade_advancing_1_July_1916.jpg/960px-Tyneside_Irish_Brigade_advancing_1_July_1916.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail",
   "page": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tyneside_Irish_Brigade_advancing_1_July_1916.jpg",
   "licence": "Public domain",
   "licence_url": "",
   "artist": "Photo taken by a member of the Royal Engineers No 1 Printing Company.",
   "credit": "This photograph Q 53 comes from the collections of the Imperial War Museums (collection no. 1900-02)",
   "width": 4709
  },
  {
   "file": "File:Tank preparing to advance at Flers-Courcelette 15-09-1916 IWM Q 5574.jpg",
   "kind": "photo",
   "caption": "A British Mark I tank before the attack at Flers–Courcelette, 15 September 1916.",
   "url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/Tank_preparing_to_advance_at_Flers-Courcelette_15-09-1916_IWM_Q_5574.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=original",
   "thumb": "https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2b/Tank_preparing_to_advance_at_Flers-Courcelette_15-09-1916_IWM_Q_5574.jpg/960px-Tank_preparing_to_advance_at_Flers-Courcelette_15-09-1916_IWM_Q_5574.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail",
   "page": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tank_preparing_to_advance_at_Flers-Courcelette_15-09-1916_IWM_Q_5574.jpg",
   "licence": "Public domain",
   "licence_url": "",
   "artist": "John Warwick Brooke",
   "credit": "This photograph Q 5574 comes from the collections of the Imperial War Museums .",
   "width": 2359
  },
  {
   "file": "File:Sir Douglas Haig portrait.jpg",
   "kind": "portrait",
   "caption": "General Sir Douglas Haig, commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Force.",
   "url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/Sir_Douglas_Haig_portrait.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=original",
   "thumb": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/Sir_Douglas_Haig_portrait.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled",
   "page": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sir_Douglas_Haig_portrait.jpg",
   "licence": "Public domain",
   "licence_url": "",
   "artist": "William Orpen",
   "credit": "http://media.iwm.org.uk/iwm/mediaLib//179/media-179723/large.jpg This photograph Art.IWM ART 324 comes from the collections of the Imperial War Museums .",
   "width": 670
  },
  {
   "file": "File:Marie Émile Fayolle circa 1918.jpg",
   "kind": "portrait",
   "caption": "Émile Fayolle, who commanded the French Sixth Army on the Somme.",
   "url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/Marie_%C3%89mile_Fayolle_circa_1918.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=original",
   "thumb": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/Marie_%C3%89mile_Fayolle_circa_1918.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled",
   "page": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marie_%C3%89mile_Fayolle_circa_1918.jpg",
   "licence": "Public domain",
   "licence_url": "",
   "artist": "Bain News Service, publisher",
   "credit": "Library of Congress Catalog: https://lccn.loc.gov/2014707643 Image download: https://cdn.loc.gov/master/pnp/ggbain/27400/27481u.tif Original url: https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2014707643/",
   "width": 740
  },
  {
   "file": "File:Fritz von Below (1853-1918).jpg",
   "kind": "portrait",
   "caption": "General Fritz von Below, commander of the German 2nd Army and, from 19 July 1916, of the 1st Army on the Somme.",
   "url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Fritz_von_Below_%281853-1918%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=original",
   "thumb": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Fritz_von_Below_%281853-1918%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled",
   "page": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fritz_von_Below_(1853-1918).jpg",
   "licence": "Public domain",
   "licence_url": "",
   "artist": "Unknown author Unknown author",
   "credit": "http://home.comcast.net/~jcviser/index.htm/aok/pixmil1.htm",
   "width": 144
  }
 ],
 "sources": [
  {
   "id": "s1",
   "title": "Battle of the Somme (Wikipedia)",
   "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Somme",
   "kind": "web"
  },
  {
   "id": "s2",
   "title": "The Battle of the Somme (National Army Museum)",
   "url": "https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/battle-somme",
   "kind": "web"
  },
  {
   "id": "s3",
   "title": "First day on the Somme (Wikipedia)",
   "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_day_on_the_Somme",
   "kind": "web"
  },
  {
   "id": "s4",
   "title": "Battle of Bazentin Ridge (Wikipedia)",
   "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bazentin_Ridge",
   "kind": "web"
  },
  {
   "id": "s5",
   "title": "Battle of Flers–Courcelette (Wikipedia)",
   "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Flers%E2%80%93Courcelette",
   "kind": "web"
  },
  {
   "id": "s6",
   "title": "Capture of Ovillers (Wikipedia)",
   "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capture_of_Ovillers",
   "kind": "web"
  },
  {
   "id": "s7",
   "title": "Olivier Forcade, La bataille de la Somme (Chemins de mémoire, French Ministry of the Armed Forces)",
   "url": "https://www.defense.gouv.fr/chemins-memoire/histoire-memoires/ressources-historiques/premiere-guerre-mondiale/combattre-combats/fronts-14",
   "kind": "web"
  },
  {
   "id": "s8",
   "title": "Sven Lüken, Die Schlacht an der Somme 1916 (LeMO, Deutsches Historisches Museum)",
   "url": "https://www.dhm.de/lemo/html/wk1/kriegsverlauf/somme/",
   "kind": "web"
  },
  {
   "id": "s9",
   "title": "Sasho Todorov, Across from the Parade Ground Soldiers: assessing the French performance at the Somme (Western Front Association, 2020)",
   "url": "https://www.westernfrontassociation.com/world-war-i-articles/across-from-the-parade-ground-soldiers-assessing-the-french-performance-at-the-somme/",
   "kind": "article"
  },
  {
   "id": "s10",
   "title": "Tanks at Flers (The Tank Museum)",
   "url": "https://tankmuseum.org/article/tanks-at-flers",
   "kind": "web"
  },
  {
   "id": "s11",
   "title": "Thiepval Memorial (Commonwealth War Graves Commission)",
   "url": "https://www.cwgc.org/visit-us/find-cemeteries-memorials/cemetery-details/80800/thiepval-memorial/",
   "kind": "web"
  },
  {
   "id": "s12",
   "title": "William Philpott, Bloody Victory: The Sacrifice on the Somme and the Making of the Twentieth Century (Little, Brown, 2009)",
   "url": null,
   "kind": "book"
  },
  {
   "id": "s13",
   "title": "Robin Prior and Trevor Wilson, The Somme (Yale University Press, 2005)",
   "url": null,
   "kind": "book"
  },
  {
   "id": "s14",
   "title": "Gary Sheffield, The Somme (Cassell, 2003)",
   "url": null,
   "kind": "book"
  },
  {
   "id": "s15",
   "title": "Christopher Duffy, Through German Eyes: The British and the Somme 1916 (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2006)",
   "url": null,
   "kind": "book"
  },
  {
   "id": "s16",
   "title": "Jack Sheldon, The German Army on the Somme 1914–1916 (Pen & Sword, 2005)",
   "url": null,
   "kind": "book"
  },
  {
   "id": "s17",
   "title": "J. E. Edmonds, Military Operations France and Belgium, 1916, vol. I (History of the Great War, HMSO, 1932)",
   "url": null,
   "kind": "primary"
  },
  {
   "id": "s18",
   "title": "Battle of Guillemont (Wikipedia), for the German command changes of July 1916",
   "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Guillemont",
   "kind": "web"
  },
  {
   "id": "s19",
   "title": "The Long, Long Trail: tanks at Flers-Courcelette",
   "url": "https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/?p=1516",
   "kind": "web"
  }
 ],
 "cdb90": [
  304,
  305,
  306,
  307,
  308
 ],
 "order": 135,
 "url": "https://battles.georgewyrd.com/somme-1916/",
 "oob": [],
 "oob_lwtv": [],
 "scenarios": [],
 "orbat": null,
 "orbat_lwtv": null,
 "reading": {
  "prose": [
   {
    "work_id": "ia:whensommeranred0000dugm",
    "title": "When the Somme ran red",
    "in": null,
    "author": "Arthur Radclyffe Dugmore",
    "life": "1870–",
    "year": 1918,
    "kind": "memoir",
    "library": "Internet Archive",
    "url": "https://archive.org/details/whensommeranred0000dugm",
    "language": "en",
    "contemporary": true,
    "subject": true,
    "references": 10,
    "page": "https://battles.georgewyrd.com/reading/when-the-somme-ran-red-9bcae8/"
   },
   {
    "work_id": "ia:rfchq1914191800bariuoft",
    "title": "R.F.C. H.Q., 1914-1918",
    "in": null,
    "author": "Maurice Baring",
    "life": "1874–1945",
    "year": 1920,
    "kind": "memoir",
    "library": "Internet Archive",
    "url": "https://archive.org/details/rfchq1914191800bariuoft",
    "language": "en",
    "contemporary": true,
    "subject": false,
    "references": 42,
    "page": "https://battles.georgewyrd.com/reading/r-f-c-h-q-1914-1918-4736d5/"
   },
   {
    "work_id": "gutenberg:35403",
    "title": "From Bapaume to Passchendaele, 1917",
    "in": null,
    "author": "Philip Gibbs",
    "life": "1877–1962",
    "year": null,
    "kind": "memoir",
    "library": "Project Gutenberg",
    "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/35403",
    "language": "en",
    "contemporary": true,
    "subject": false,
    "references": 19,
    "page": "https://battles.georgewyrd.com/reading/from-bapaume-to-passchendaele-1917-3d2e90/"
   },
   {
    "work_id": "ia:firstworldwar19101repiuoft",
    "title": "The First World War, 1914-1918",
    "in": null,
    "author": "Charles à Court Repington",
    "life": "1858–1925",
    "year": 1920,
    "kind": "memoir",
    "library": "Internet Archive",
    "url": "https://archive.org/details/firstworldwar19101repiuoft",
    "language": "en",
    "contemporary": true,
    "subject": false,
    "references": 17,
    "page": "https://battles.georgewyrd.com/reading/the-first-world-war-1914-1918-c65430/"
   },
   {
    "work_id": "gutenberg:18497",
    "title": "My Second Year of the War",
    "in": null,
    "author": "Frederick Palmer",
    "life": "1873–1958",
    "year": 1917,
    "kind": "memoir",
    "library": "Project Gutenberg",
    "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/18497",
    "language": "en",
    "contemporary": true,
    "subject": false,
    "references": 16,
    "page": "https://battles.georgewyrd.com/reading/my-second-year-of-the-war-9a7aa8/"
   },
   {
    "work_id": "gutenberg:10099",
    "title": "Towards the Goal",
    "in": null,
    "author": "Mrs Humphry Ward",
    "life": "1851–1920",
    "year": null,
    "kind": "memoir",
    "library": "Project Gutenberg",
    "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10099",
    "language": "en",
    "contemporary": true,
    "subject": false,
    "references": 14,
    "page": "https://battles.georgewyrd.com/reading/towards-the-goal-6775ad/"
   },
   {
    "work_id": "ia:adventure0000unse_r7b6",
    "title": "Adventure",
    "in": null,
    "author": "John Edward Bernard Seely, Baron Mottistone",
    "life": "1868–1947",
    "year": 1930,
    "kind": "memoir",
    "library": "Internet Archive",
    "url": "https://archive.org/details/adventure0000unse_r7b6",
    "language": "en",
    "contemporary": true,
    "subject": false,
    "references": 14,
    "page": "https://battles.georgewyrd.com/reading/adventure-cfbb10/"
   },
   {
    "work_id": "ia:mydiaryofgreatwa0000plew",
    "title": "My diary of the Great War",
    "in": null,
    "author": "William Rothwell Plewman",
    "life": "1880–",
    "year": 1918,
    "kind": "memoir",
    "library": "Internet Archive",
    "url": "https://archive.org/details/mydiaryofgreatwa0000plew",
    "language": "en",
    "contemporary": true,
    "subject": false,
    "references": 13,
    "page": "https://battles.georgewyrd.com/reading/my-diary-of-the-great-war-6e334d/"
   }
  ],
  "history": [
   {
    "work_id": "ia:in.ernet.dli.2015.210679",
    "title": "Military Operations, France and Belgium 1916, vol. 1",
    "in": null,
    "author": "James E. Edmonds",
    "life": null,
    "year": 1932,
    "kind": "official history",
    "library": "Internet Archive",
    "url": "https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.210679",
    "language": "en",
    "contemporary": false,
    "subject": false,
    "references": 71,
    "official": true,
    "page": "https://battles.georgewyrd.com/reading/military-operations-france-and-belgium-1916-vol-1-b5ef68/"
   },
   {
    "work_id": "ia:in.ernet.dli.2015.210680",
    "title": "Military Operations, France and Belgium 1916, vol. 2",
    "in": null,
    "author": "Wilfrid Miles",
    "life": null,
    "year": 1938,
    "kind": "official history",
    "library": "Internet Archive",
    "url": "https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.210680",
    "language": "en",
    "contemporary": false,
    "subject": false,
    "references": 63,
    "official": true,
    "page": "https://battles.georgewyrd.com/reading/military-operations-france-and-belgium-1916-vol-2-b37c5c/"
   },
   {
    "work_id": "ia:warinairbeingsto02rale",
    "title": "The War in the Air, vol. 2",
    "in": null,
    "author": "H. A. Jones",
    "life": null,
    "year": 1922,
    "kind": "official history",
    "library": "Internet Archive",
    "url": "https://archive.org/details/warinairbeingsto02rale",
    "language": "en",
    "contemporary": false,
    "subject": false,
    "references": 63,
    "official": true,
    "page": "https://battles.georgewyrd.com/reading/the-war-in-the-air-vol-2-b74f1c/"
   },
   {
    "work_id": "ia:in.ernet.dli.2015.210683",
    "title": "Military Operations, France and Belgium 1917, vol. 1",
    "in": null,
    "author": "Cyril Falls",
    "life": null,
    "year": 1940,
    "kind": "official history",
    "library": "Internet Archive",
    "url": "https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.210683",
    "language": "en",
    "contemporary": false,
    "subject": false,
    "references": 29,
    "official": true,
    "page": "https://battles.georgewyrd.com/reading/military-operations-france-and-belgium-1917-vol-1-9df48f/"
   },
   {
    "work_id": "ia:warinairbeingsto03rale",
    "title": "The War in the Air, vol. 3",
    "in": null,
    "author": "H. A. Jones",
    "life": null,
    "year": 1922,
    "kind": "official history",
    "library": "Internet Archive",
    "url": "https://archive.org/details/warinairbeingsto03rale",
    "language": "en",
    "contemporary": false,
    "subject": false,
    "references": 17,
    "official": true,
    "page": "https://battles.georgewyrd.com/reading/the-war-in-the-air-vol-3-7f60ca/"
   }
  ],
  "fiction": [
   {
    "work_id": "ia:allouryesterdays0000toml_b7w4",
    "title": "All our yesterdays",
    "in": null,
    "author": "H. M. Tomlinson",
    "life": "1873–1958",
    "year": 1930,
    "kind": "novel",
    "library": "Internet Archive",
    "url": "https://archive.org/details/allouryesterdays0000toml_b7w4",
    "language": "en",
    "contemporary": true,
    "subject": false,
    "references": 8,
    "page": "https://battles.georgewyrd.com/reading/all-our-yesterdays-8b1509/"
   },
   {
    "work_id": "ia:warbookscritical0000fall",
    "title": "War books",
    "in": null,
    "author": "Cyril Bentham Falls",
    "life": "1888–",
    "year": 1930,
    "kind": "novel",
    "library": "Internet Archive",
    "url": "https://archive.org/details/warbookscritical0000fall",
    "language": "en",
    "contemporary": true,
    "subject": false,
    "references": 7,
    "page": "https://battles.georgewyrd.com/reading/war-books-c0f4e2/"
   },
   {
    "work_id": "gutenberg:46549",
    "title": "The Willing Horse",
    "in": null,
    "author": "Ian Hay",
    "life": "1876–1952",
    "year": 1921,
    "kind": "novel",
    "library": "Project Gutenberg",
    "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/46549",
    "language": "en",
    "contemporary": true,
    "subject": false,
    "references": 5,
    "page": "https://battles.georgewyrd.com/reading/the-willing-horse-18c939/"
   }
  ],
  "poetry": [
   {
    "work_id": "gutenberg:63895",
    "title": "Severn & Somme",
    "in": null,
    "author": "Ivor Gurney",
    "life": "1890–1937",
    "year": null,
    "kind": "poem",
    "library": "Project Gutenberg",
    "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63895",
    "language": "en",
    "contemporary": true,
    "subject": true,
    "references": 0,
    "page": "https://battles.georgewyrd.com/reading/severn-somme-1cf113/"
   },
   {
    "work_id": "ia:gatesofjanus00cartrich",
    "title": "The gates of Janus",
    "in": null,
    "author": "William Carter",
    "life": "1868–",
    "year": 1919,
    "kind": "poem",
    "library": "Internet Archive",
    "url": "https://archive.org/details/gatesofjanus00cartrich",
    "language": "en",
    "contemporary": true,
    "subject": false,
    "references": 5,
    "page": "https://battles.georgewyrd.com/reading/the-gates-of-janus-b7468e/"
   },
   {
    "work_id": "ia:pipesofwarrecord00setorich",
    "title": "The pipes of war",
    "in": null,
    "author": "Sir Bruce Gordon Seton",
    "life": "1868–",
    "year": 1920,
    "kind": "poem",
    "library": "Internet Archive",
    "url": "https://archive.org/details/pipesofwarrecord00setorich",
    "language": "en",
    "contemporary": true,
    "subject": false,
    "references": 5,
    "page": "https://battles.georgewyrd.com/reading/the-pipes-of-war-795f53/"
   },
   {
    "work_id": "gutenberg:8820",
    "title": "A Treasury of War Poetry",
    "in": null,
    "author": "George Herbert Clarke",
    "life": "1873–1953",
    "year": null,
    "kind": "poem",
    "library": "Project Gutenberg",
    "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/8820",
    "language": "en",
    "contemporary": true,
    "subject": false,
    "references": 4,
    "page": "https://battles.georgewyrd.com/reading/a-treasury-of-war-poetry-50c8a6/"
   },
   {
    "work_id": "ia:cihm_991629",
    "title": "For remembrance [microform]",
    "in": null,
    "author": "A. St. John Adcock",
    "life": "1864–1930",
    "year": 1918,
    "kind": "poem",
    "library": "Internet Archive",
    "url": "https://archive.org/details/cihm_991629",
    "language": "en",
    "contemporary": true,
    "subject": false,
    "references": 2,
    "page": "https://battles.georgewyrd.com/reading/for-remembrance-microform-5c18b8/"
   }
  ]
 },
 "reading_lwtv": {
  "prose": [],
  "poetry": []
 },
 "photos": [
  {
   "file": "File:15 inch howitzer.jpg",
   "thumb": "https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4d/15_inch_howitzer.jpg/500px-15_inch_howitzer.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail",
   "page": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:15_inch_howitzer.jpg",
   "caption": "THE BATTLE OF THE SOMME 1 JULY - 18 NOVEMBER 1916: A shell being loaded into a 15 inch howitzer",
   "year": 1916,
   "licence": "Public domain",
   "artist": "Castle, William Ivor (Lieutenant), Canadian official photographer",
   "collection": "IWM"
  },
  {
   "file": "File:The Battle of the Somme, July-november 1916 Q4006.jpg",
   "thumb": "https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/The_Battle_of_the_Somme%2C_July-november_1916_Q4006.jpg/500px-The_Battle_of_the_Somme%2C_July-november_1916_Q4006.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail",
   "page": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Battle_of_the_Somme,_July-november_1916_Q4006.jpg",
   "caption": "The Battle of the Somme, July-november 1916 Four Officers of the Royal Artillery listen to their gramophone in the sunshine outside their dugout near Carnoy Valley",
   "year": 1916,
   "licence": "Public domain",
   "artist": "John Warwick Brooke",
   "collection": "IWM"
  },
  {
   "file": "File:The Battle of the Somme, July-november 1916 Q4127.jpg",
   "thumb": "https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ee/The_Battle_of_the_Somme%2C_July-november_1916_Q4127.jpg/500px-The_Battle_of_the_Somme%2C_July-november_1916_Q4127.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail",
   "page": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Battle_of_the_Somme,_July-november_1916_Q4127.jpg",
   "caption": "The Battle of the Somme, July-november 1916 An Indian Army cook preparing a meal. He is crouching down on the floor and has two buckets in front of him",
   "year": 1916,
   "licence": "Public domain",
   "artist": "John Warwick Brooke",
   "collection": "IWM"
  },
  {
   "file": "File:The Battle of the Somme, July-november 1916 Q4262.jpg",
   "thumb": "https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/84/The_Battle_of_the_Somme%2C_July-november_1916_Q4262.jpg/500px-The_Battle_of_the_Somme%2C_July-november_1916_Q4262.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail",
   "page": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Battle_of_the_Somme,_July-november_1916_Q4262.jpg",
   "caption": "The Battle of the Somme, July-november 1916 British troops extricating a horse ambulance of the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) from the mud. Guillemont, September 1916",
   "year": 1916,
   "licence": "Public domain",
   "artist": "John Warwick Brooke",
   "collection": "IWM"
  },
  {
   "file": "File:British artillery in action, World War I.JPEG",
   "thumb": "https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/de/British_artillery_in_action%2C_World_War_I.JPEG/500px-British_artillery_in_action%2C_World_War_I.JPEG?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail",
   "page": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:British_artillery_in_action,_World_War_I.JPEG",
   "caption": "Types of ordnance. British guns - elevated position mobile mount at the front during World War I",
   "year": 1916,
   "licence": "Public domain",
   "artist": "John Warwick Brooke",
   "collection": "Library of Congress"
  },
  {
   "file": "File:Canadian15inchHowitzerWWI.jpg",
   "thumb": "https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/Canadian15inchHowitzerWWI.jpg/500px-Canadian15inchHowitzerWWI.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail",
   "page": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Canadian15inchHowitzerWWI.jpg",
   "caption": "BL 15 inch howitzer being reloaded in action, 1916, perhaps during the initial bombardment of the Somme June-July 1916. The gun carriage displays its service as: 1915 Aubers Ridge , Festubert , Loos ; 1916: The \"Bluff\", Ypres . The original caption states that this is a Canadian howitzer. The battle",
   "year": 1916,
   "licence": "Public domain",
   "artist": "Castle, William Ivor (Lieutenant), Canadian official photographer",
   "collection": "Library of Congress"
  },
  {
   "file": "File:Learning of German retreat from her district, French woman returns to find her home a heap of ruins LCCN95513888.jpg",
   "thumb": "https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Learning_of_German_retreat_from_her_district%2C_French_woman_returns_to_find_her_home_a_heap_of_ruins_LCCN95513888.jpg/500px-Learning_of_German_retreat_from_her_district%2C_French_woman_returns_to_find_her_home_a_heap_of_ruins_LCCN95513888.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail",
   "page": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Learning_of_German_retreat_from_her_district,_French_woman_returns_to_find_her_home_a_heap_of_ruins_LCCN95513888.jpg",
   "caption": "Learning of German retreat from her district, French woman returns to find her home a heap of ruins",
   "year": 1917,
   "licence": "Public domain",
   "artist": "Underwood & Underwood, copyright claimant",
   "collection": "Library of Congress"
  },
  {
   "file": "File:Military Operations - At a height of 150 meters above the fighting line, the daring French photographer was able to get this rare photograph of French troops on the Somme front - NARA - 45502670.jpg",
   "thumb": "https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b0/Military_Operations_-_At_a_height_of_150_meters_above_the_fighting_line%2C_the_daring_French_photographer_was_able_to_get_this_rare_photograph_of_French_troops_on_the_Somme_front_-_NARA_-_45502670.jpg/500px-thumbnail.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail",
   "page": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Military_Operations_-_At_a_height_of_150_meters_above_the_fighting_line,_the_daring_French_photographer_was_able_to_get_this_rare_photograph_of_French_troops_on_the_Somme_front_-_NARA_-_45502670.jpg",
   "caption": "At a height of 150 meters above the fighting line, the daring French photographer was able to get this rare photograph of French troops on the Somme front, launching an attack upon the Germans, who may be seen in the background retreating",
   "year": 1917,
   "licence": "Public domain",
   "artist": "Unknown author Unknown author or not provided",
   "collection": "NARA"
  },
  {
   "file": "File:\"No Man's Land\" in front of Canadian lines A000786.jpg",
   "thumb": "https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6a/%22No_Man%27s_Land%22_in_front_of_Canadian_lines_A000786.jpg/500px-%22No_Man%27s_Land%22_in_front_of_Canadian_lines_A000786.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail",
   "page": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%22No_Man%27s_Land%22_in_front_of_Canadian_lines_A000786.jpg",
   "caption": "\"No Man's Land\" in front of Canadian lines",
   "year": 1916,
   "licence": "Public domain",
   "artist": "William Ivor Castle",
   "collection": null
  },
  {
   "file": "File:Armee francaise-1916-service photo-a20.jpg",
   "thumb": "https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/57/Armee_francaise-1916-service_photo-a20.jpg/500px-Armee_francaise-1916-service_photo-a20.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail",
   "page": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Armee_francaise-1916-service_photo-a20.jpg",
   "caption": "Une des pages du fascicule \"1916-Documents de la section photographique de l'armée française\"",
   "year": 1916,
   "licence": "Public domain",
   "artist": "Unknown author Unknown author",
   "collection": null
  },
  {
   "file": "File:France, Somme, Frise, 1916.jpg",
   "thumb": "https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/57/France%2C_Somme%2C_Frise%2C_1916.jpg/500px-France%2C_Somme%2C_Frise%2C_1916.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail",
   "page": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:France,_Somme,_Frise,_1916.jpg",
   "caption": "Church of Frise (Somme Département, France) during or after the Battle of the Somme (1916)",
   "year": 1916,
   "licence": "Public domain",
   "artist": "Agence de presse Meurisse",
   "collection": null
  },
  {
   "file": "File:NLS Haig - Some of our big gun gunners.jpg",
   "thumb": "https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a8/NLS_Haig_-_Some_of_our_big_gun_gunners.jpg/500px-NLS_Haig_-_Some_of_our_big_gun_gunners.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail",
   "page": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NLS_Haig_-_Some_of_our_big_gun_gunners.jpg",
   "caption": "British BL 6-inch Mk VII field gun and crew, Western Front World War I. \"Somme gun\" is chalked on the barrel. See File:Gunners bring up 6-inch Mk VII gun charges WWI NLS 74548526.jpg for men bringing up charges for the gun",
   "year": 1916,
   "licence": "Public domain",
   "artist": "John Warwick Brooke",
   "collection": null
  }
 ],
 "photos_kind": "photographs",
 "newspapers": {
  "slug": "somme-1916",
  "query": "Somme",
  "from": "1916-07-01",
  "to": "1916-12-02",
  "total": 16963,
  "rights": "Library of Congress, Chronicling America: newspapers published before 1931, in the public domain. Text machine-read from the scanned page.",
  "pages": [
   {
    "date": "1916-07-03",
    "paper": "Evening public ledger (philadelphia [pa.])",
    "place": "Philadelphia, Pennsylvania",
    "url": "https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83045211/1916-07-03/ed-1/?sp=1",
    "snippet": "... from Arras south to the [[tag]]Somme[[/tag]] and tho objective of which is the Peronne-Cambrai-Lille railway. Tho Germans are fighting desperately to save their com munication lines and have succeeded in checking the British north of tho Sommo. Tho great drive, which began with a terrific thrust at the Ger man lines, has now resolved itself into a steady rolling movement with Bapaume as the British and Peronnc as the French objective. French troops have advanced on a front 10 miles long, extending from tho outskirts of Hardecourt, north of the [[tag]]Somme[[/tag]], to a point south of Estres village. Having slashed the first line positions of tho Germans in the sector of the [[tag]]Somme[[/tag]], the French ..."
   },
   {
    "date": "1916-07-06",
    "paper": "The guthrie daily leader (guthrie, okla.)",
    "place": "Guthrie, Oklahoma",
    "url": "https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn86063952/1916-07-06/ed-1/?sp=1",
    "snippet": "... Near Thiepval, on the River [[tag]]Somme[[/tag]], the allies made a \"further slight advance\" capturing number of prisoners, it was an nounced. Paris, July 6. The night generally was quM north and south of the [[tag]]Somme[[/tag]] river, it was announced. There were few local engagements north of the [[tag]]Somme[[/tag]], in which the Gertians captured the wood north of Hm. The French also captured a wood. The German counter attack at BeMoy was repulsed. The French have captured seventy-six cannon and several hundred machine guns. CLAIM CAPTURE OF ALL GERMAN SECOND LINE. London, July 6. Having iaptund the whole Crorman second line koiiiIi of the [[tag]]Somme[[/tag]], from the river to lie I loy, the Kronen resumed tin ..."
   },
   {
    "date": "1916-07-16",
    "paper": "Evening star (Washington, D.C.)",
    "place": "Washington, District Of Columbia",
    "url": "https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83045462/1916-07-16/ed-1/?sp=21",
    "snippet": "... south of the Further Successes. [[tag]]Somme[[/tag]] and have, approached within a mile of the im- portant strategical city of Peronne. Peronne at the present time is declared to be under the noses of French guns, while the French are able to shell heavily the Teuton armies operating to the northward. The French, it is declared, may make their final attempt to storm Peronne during the present week, and in case they succeed realignment of all the German j armies operating in the [[tag]]Somme[[/tag]] regions j will be absolutely necessary, particu- j mny snouia me critisn register iur- i ther gains. The battle of the [[tag]]Somme[[/tag]] has brought out the significant fact that the entente commanders, ..."
   },
   {
    "date": "1916-09-03",
    "paper": "Tulsa daily world (tulsa, indian territory [okla.])",
    "place": "Tulsa, Oklahoma",
    "url": "https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn85042344/1916-09-03/ed-1/?sp=17",
    "snippet": "... 1010 Allied Plan Wins on [[tag]]Somme[[/tag]], According to British Generals SECOND SECTION Effects Felt East and South, Officers Claim (J rent Onslaught Not Intended to Break Through Lines in West, but lias Saved Voi'dun and Made Possible Russian and Italian Successes and Balkan Attack by Keeping Best Teuton Troops Occupied, Correspondent Is Told. When I hjicnt some tlmo on this front several weeks before the [[tag]]Somme[[/tag]] of fensive begun, nt a tlmo of compara tive quiet. I learned enough about the preparations to form a pretty good Idea of what the British were about to attempt, ami since then staff or- ami has alone nunlo It possible, for F.ngland at least to bring her full ..."
   },
   {
    "date": "1916-09-14",
    "paper": "The Fulton County news (McConnellsburg, Pa.)",
    "place": "Mcconnellsburg, Pennsylvania",
    "url": "https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn86081889/1916-09-14/ed-1/?sp=2",
    "snippet": "... other regions north of the [[tag]]Somme[[/tag]], ac cording to. the official communication issued by the War Office. South of the [[tag]]Somme[[/tag]] the French cap tured a line of German trenches and repulnod all counterattacks. The pris oners captured number 6,550 and the cannon 36. Vigorous counter-attacks were made by the Germans north of the [[tag]]Somme[[/tag]] in an effort to regain ground taken in the new drive of the French. German Counter-Strokes Vain. The German assaults north of the [[tag]]Somme[[/tag]] were delivered between Com bles and Forest. South of the river unsuccessful blows were struck by the Germans east of Uelloy. In these operations tho French took 100 prison ers. The activities of the French are ..."
   },
   {
    "date": "1916-09-21",
    "paper": "The Greenville journal (Greenville, Ohio)",
    "place": "Greenville, Ohio",
    "url": "https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83035565/1916-09-21/ed-1/?sp=2",
    "snippet": "... north nnd south of the [[tag]]Somme[[/tag]]. A total of more than 2,300 prisoners captured In this action is oilicially re ported by Paris. The same statement announces a new advance on the Ger man base of Combles from the north and the capture of the entire German trench system south of Prize farm. Smashing German counter-attacks at several points are declared to have been repulsed. The German official statement fol lows \"Front of Field Marshal Prince Uupprecht of Bavaria ([[tag]]Somme[[/tag]]) The battle north of the [[tag]]Somme[[/tag]] has re commenced. Our troops are engaged In heavy fighting between Combles and the Somine. The French entered Bouchavesnes.\" WILSON PLANS HIS CAMPAIGN President Confers With McAdoo and Burleson ..."
   },
   {
    "date": "1916-09-22",
    "paper": "The Big Sandy news (Louisa, Ky.)",
    "place": "Louisa, Kentucky",
    "url": "https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83004226/1916-09-22/ed-1/?sp=6",
    "snippet": "... the other, south of the [[tag]]Somme[[/tag]] Klver, according to the of ficial statement Issued by the Paris War Otflce. They also have taken those portions of the villages of Verman dnvlllers and Berny that had remained In possession of the Germans. Seven hundred unwounded prisoners were captured. Powerful counter attacks were launched by the Germans against the newly-acqutred British positions on the [[tag]]Somme[[/tag]] front. TUESDAY. The British line has advanced 1,000 yards on. a mile front sod captured a powerfully fortified German work call ed (he \"guadrllateral.\" South of Com bles, on the [[tag]]Somme[[/tag]] front, the French have carried another group of German trenrbes. Desperate fighting on limits around Ienleootirt, while actions -both In the ..."
   },
   {
    "date": "1916-11-16",
    "paper": "Catoctin clarion (Mechanicstown, Md.)",
    "place": "Thurmont, Maryland",
    "url": "https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn84026688/1916-11-16/ed-1/?sp=1",
    "snippet": "... great allied armies on the [[tag]]Somme[[/tag]]. It has gone complete ly through the British array, in fact, and I first heard it long before I reached the [[tag]]Somme[[/tag]]. I heard it so often that I mu not sure where I heard It first, hut I remember being told it at tlie table of the divisional command er just south of Ypres, nearly a hun dred miles from the [[tag]]Somme[[/tag]]. Mutual Good Will. As I kept on hearing this_ story I began to feel it was a little too put to be true, hut it also struck me that it did not make much difference whether it was or not. Since 1 have readied the [[tag]]Somme[[/tag]] ..."
   }
  ]
 }
}