<– Part 101 – June 25, 1916  | Part 102 – July 2, 1916 |  Part 103 – July 9, 1916 –>

The detonation of the Hawthorn Ridge mine, under German lines.

British aerial recon of the German trenches on May 10, 1916.

On June 30, in an attempt to distract the Germans from the pending offensive at the Somme, three battalions from the Royal Sussex Regiment, following an intense artillery bombardment, succeeded in capturing the first two lines at the German defensive position at the “Boar’s Head” before running out of ammunition, halting before the German supply trench. 1,400 British soldiers were casualties, all from Sussex, England – dozens of brothers dead together.

The following day, July 1, an assault by was launched at Albert by 19 Allied divisions, opposed by 6 German divisions. The enormous artillery bombardment preceding the attack was by 60-pounders firing over 1.5 million shells, and was heard in London. Mines were detonated under German strongpoints, and the town of Fricourt – a German salient – was captured. The British military has suffered its greatest number of casualties in a single day – 60,000, nearly 20,000 of them killed. The French lost 7,000, and the Germans 8,000 and 4,200 prisoners. German forces have been withdrawn from Verdun, which has seen over 200,000 casualties on each side so far.

Fighting at the Somme, July 1

British plan of attack on the first day of the Somme offensive. 60,000 soldiers fell, the greatest casualty rate for the British army at the time.

The Russian Caucasus army attacked the Ottomans at Erzincan earlier today as their offensive continues.

Bey and his men

The Turk general Ali İhsan Bey captured Kermanshah, in Iran, later that day. Meanwhile, the joint British-Arab forces are advancing on the Ottoman garrison at Taif.

A 60-pounder battery. They were heard in London, 165 miles away

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