By the time the battle ground to a halt and was declared over on 15th September 1916 the Allies had managed to creep forward by a maximum of seven miles along the twenty-mile front. The cost was 418,000 British and 195,000 French casualties. The Germans had lost 650,000 killed and wounded.

But the face of war had changed forever. The tank had proved itself the king of the battlefield, even if its inventors, the British, did not yet realise its full potential. They would continue to see it either as support for the infantry or as a means of armed reconnaissance. The British War Department would ignore the teachings of such men as Percy Hobart, Basil Liddell Hart, Charles de Gaulle and Heinz Guderian, all of whom saw the need for the infantry to be given the means to keep up with the armoured spearhead. Only after the Germans had demonstrated the true power of the tank in their advances over the same territory twenty-four years later would the British Army learn to make full use of its magnificent invention.

In the air the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service had proved the value of air support. During the battle they had established a superiority over their German rivals that had allowed them to support the infantry and to direct the artillery. Air power would grow from strength to strength over the coming years although once again it would be the defeated Germans who would lead the way in innovation.

Only on the ground were the lessons, if not entirely ignored, then only acted upon at a very slow rate. Haig had seen the battle in terms of a traditional advance with infantry clearing the way for the cavalry. In fact it was a classical siege scenario. He should have realised that the German trenches filled the role of the old castles and that they could only be assailed once a breach had been opened through which the infantry could pour to reduce the defences from within. As the war progressed these ideas were slowly taken on board but the cost for the troops on the ground was high.

The causes of the Great War have always been difficult to grasp and at the end of hostilities in 1918 it is just as difficult to establish if they were ever achieved. All that is certain is that never, up to that time, had so many men died in a single war. The great sadness is that the war to end wars had failed so utterly that in only a few short years an even greater, more destructive war would spread across the world.

The Trip

This was much more successful than the battle itself. In all respects it achieved its aims. In turns we were moved, elated, amused and educated. The organisation was faultless while the presentations at the various sites we visited had us by turns in tears and laughing. It is unusual on these trips not to hear someone complain, even if their comments are without grounds. On this occasion I heard nothing but praise from everyone and all of it well deserved. It seems ridiculous to describe a trip around so many cemeteries as enjoyable but that is exactly what it was. Andy and Pete deserve all the plaudits heaped upon them and I'm sure we all look forward to further trips in the future.