‘Carnage on the Somme’: the story behind this tragic footage. On 1 July 1916 the British and French launched their summer offensive in the Somme region. On the first day, the British troops suffered 57,000 casualties, with 19,000 killed, and 35,000 wounded. This iconic footage from the 1916 documentary film ‘The Battle of the Somme’ has become synonymous with the battle’s carnage. That year, millions of cinema-goers watched the film. Its maker Lieutenant Geoffrey Malins recalled filming the resc

Soldiers had varying expectations as to what they might confront on the morning on 1 July 1916 in the Somme Battle. One soldier recalled: ‘As we staggered up to the trenches we passed our divisional commander with some of his staff. ‘His words of cheer to us were, "Good luck, men. There is not a German left in their trenches, our guns have blown them all to Hell”.’ Another soldier recalled upon ‘going over the top’: 'Suddenly, for a few seconds, all seemed silent, the barrage had quietened down.

Discover facts about the Battle of the Somme and see how the site has changed since 1916 with footage from The Battle of the Somme film overlaid with shots of the same locations 100 years on in a poignant reminder of the impact of war. | Imperial War Museum London