The First Day of The Somme

The First Day of The Somme

Dan Explains the first day of The Somme which remains the bloodiest day in the history of the British army; a symbol of the senseless carnage of the First World War. At 7:30 a.m. on July 1 1916, the British soldiers climbed out of their trenches and advanced towards the German lines. They were met with a bombardment of machine gun fire, artillery barrages, and a hail of bullets from the well-entrenched German troops. It was a bloodbath.


It wasn't supposed to happen like that- beforehand, the British had spent several days bombarding the German lines, believing they would destroy their enemy trenches and barbed wire defences, making the British advance straightforward and almost painless. They didn't know just how well-fortified the Germans were in their deep dugouts. When the bombardment stopped, the Germans manned their defences, waiting for the British to walk right into their line of fire.


In chilling detail, Dan retells the astonishing story of that fateful first day of The Somme- determining what really happened in the days leading up to it and what the men endured when they went 'over the top', using the diaries of the men who were there.


Produced by Mariana Des Forges and edited and sound designed by Dougal Patmore.


Discover the past on History Hit with ad-free original podcasts and documentaries released weekly presented by world renowned historians like Dan Snow, Suzannah Lipscomb, Lucy Worsley, Matt Lewis, Tristan Hughes and more. Get 50% off your first 3 months with code DANSNOW. Download the app or sign up here.


We'd love to hear from you- what do you want to hear an episode on? You can email the podcast at ds.hh@historyhit.com.


You can take part in our listener survey here.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jaksot(1489)

The Original Kamikaze: The Mongol Invasions of Japan

The Original Kamikaze: The Mongol Invasions of Japan

At the height of the Mongol Empire, Kublai Khan set his sights on the island of Japan. He launched two enormous invasions of that nation in 1274 and 1281 - but both of them were defeated, aided by sud...

29 Huhti 202429min

The Kamikaze Hunters

The Kamikaze Hunters

Please note, this episode contains discussion of suicide.In 1945, after lengthy delays, the Royal Navy sent a powerful fleet into the Pacific. After the disastrous Japanese invasions in Southeast Asia...

28 Huhti 202430min

The Kamikaze Pilots

The Kamikaze Pilots

Please note, this episode contains discussion of suicide. By October 1944, the Japanese were in real trouble. The Allies had made great strides in their Pacific island-hopping campaign and were advanc...

27 Huhti 202428min

Rwandan Genocide Explained

Rwandan Genocide Explained

Warning: This episode contains some upsetting descriptions of human suffering.The Rwandan Genocide is a dark and pivotal moment in modern history; the catastrophic consequence of ethnic division and g...

23 Huhti 202448min

Pontius Pilate

Pontius Pilate

Pontius Pilate was the Roman Prefect of Judea during the reign of Emperor Tiberius and is most famous for condemning Jesus of Nazareth to death by crucifixion in the Four Gospels. But who really was h...

22 Huhti 202446min

The Battle of Crécy

The Battle of Crécy

The English won a decisive battlefield victory over the French in the first decade of the Hundred Years' War. At the Battle of Crécy, an outnumbered English army went up against thousands of French mo...

21 Huhti 202431min

Iran & Israel: From Allies to Enemies

Iran & Israel: From Allies to Enemies

On the 1st of April, 2024, a presumed Israeli airstrike destroyed the Iranian consulate in Damascus, killing 13 people. Amongst them was a Brigadier General of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard ...

20 Huhti 202438min

Mao's China, The Berlin Wall and WWII Egypt: Witnessing History with Peter Snow

Mao's China, The Berlin Wall and WWII Egypt: Witnessing History with Peter Snow

As a foreign correspondent for ITN in the 70s, Peter Snow remembers handing tins of film to strangers on airport runways, hoping they would take it back to Britain to hand over to his colleagues on th...

16 Huhti 202422min

Suosittua kategoriassa Historia

olipa-kerran-otsikko
gogin-ja-janin-maailmanhistoria
mayday-fi
huijarit
mystista
tsunami
totuus-vai-salaliitto
rss-ikiuni
konginkangas
rouva-diktaattori
rss-subjektiivinen-todistaja
rss-i-dont-like-mondays-2
sotaa-ja-historiaa-podi
tiedetta-ja-sirkushuveja-vanhojen-aikojen-podcast
rss-kirkon-ihmeellisimmat-tarinat
rss-peter-peter
historiaa-suomeksi
maailmanpuu
rss-iltanuotiolla
romani-podcast