1 July in military history: First day of the Somme, 1916

British and French troops opened the Battle of the Somme in northern France. After a week of bombardment the infantry attacked at 7:30 a.m.; the French and the British right wing gained ground, but along most of the British front the attack broke down under machine-gun, rifle and artillery fire.

The British official history's corrected figure for the Fourth Army and the VII Corps is 57,470 killed, wounded, missing and captured, among them 993 officers and 18,247 other ranks killed or died of wounds. The returns made at the time gave 61,816. The National Army Museum calls it the bloodiest day in the British army's history.

The Allies had agreed on a joint French and British offensive for the summer of 1916, and the French chose the Somme, where the two armies met. The German attack at Verdun led the British to attack earlier than planned.

It advanced on the morning of 1 July 1916 and was cut down by German fire. The official history gives its losses as 710, and Veterans Affairs Canada writes that only 68 men answered the roll call the next day. Newfoundland and Labrador keep 1 July as Memorial Day.

According to the National Army Museum, Haig shut down the offensive on 18 November 1916, after the Allies had advanced only seven miles (12 km).