Hall Mead School,
Marlborough Gardens,
Upminster, Essex,
RM14 1SF.
Tel 01708 225684
or 01708 229655
Fax 01708 220232
Table To Show British and Empire Troops Killed
Number of
Weeks
British
Divisions
Total
Killed
Deaths per Division Per week
The Somme 1916
1st July - 8th Nov
20 weeks
1 day
53
95,000
89
Normandy 1944
6th June — 25th Aug
11 weeks
4 days
19
22,000
100
Battle Tactics at the Somme
Critics of the Somme make much of what they see as insistence on parade-ground precision, with men being ordered to walk and keep in line. This had nothing to do with ceremonial parades, but was a perfectly sensible rule to ensure that control was not lost, that men were not shot by their own side, and that they all arrived on the objective together. Scorn is also poured on the need for the infantry to carry packs weighing 60 pounds. This is one of the enduring myths of the First World War... in fact, it was everything that the men carried and wore that weighed 60 pounds... in the attack large packs were left behind and the small pack contained only the essentials for the operation.
"Mud, Blood and Poppycock", by Gordon Corrigan (2003).
