| The Battle of the Somme began July 1, 1916. On that day, 57,500 British soldiers were killed, wounded or went missing. At Beaumont Hamel, the Newfoundland Regiment was annihilated — of 801 men, only 68 answered the roll call the next morning. The Canadian Corps attacked on the front line at dawn on September 15. By the time of the final battle in November, the Allies had suffered 600,000 casualties including 24,029 Canadians. A total of 236,000 Germans were killed. The Germans called the five-month Battle of the Somme "das Blutbad" — the blood bath. "The Canadians... were marked out as storm troops; for the remainder of the war they were brought along to head the assault in one great battle after another."
--British Prime Minister Lloyd George, 1916 PA-207187 |