Battle of The Somme - Conclusion

Conclusion

Foley argues that the Germans were caught by surprise by both the intensity and ferocity of the Allied attacks. They were caught completely off guard and suffered high casualties. However they learned quickly and improvise a new defensive tactical doctrine.

It is difficult to declare the Battle of the Somme a victory for either side. The British and French captured 7-mile (11 km) at the deepest point of penetration on a front of 16-mile (26 km) from Gommecourt to Maricourt thence from Maricourt to Foucaucourt-en-Santerre (and later south to Chilly). The French and British had gained approximately six miles in depth (to the foot of the Butte de Warlencourt and beyond Geuedecourt) and lost about 419,654 British and 202,567 French casualties against 465,181 German, meaning that a centimetre cost about two men. Some historians have since the 1960s argued against the widely-held view that the battle was a disaster; arguing that the Battle of the Somme was an Allied victory. As British historian Gary Sheffield said, "The battle of the Somme was not a victory in itself, but without it the Entente would not have emerged victorious in 1918".