The Somme

One of the benefits about work is that you occasionally get to do something that is a bit different, in this case we visited the battlefield site at Thiepval in France, where part of the Somme offensive was fought in July 1916.  We were taking part in a conference which had delegates coming in from around Europe to discuss the business and how we can go about improving things, part of this was a team away day, the reason we were visiting the battlefield site.

The trip involved a visit to the Memorial to the Missing, a giant brick structure that has the names of around 72,000 service personnel who are still missing.  Sadly, on a regular basis, the remains of men from the First World War are found on the sites of the old battlefields and the memorial has to be adjusted, the names removed and a full ceremonial funeral held.  During our visit we held a brief service and laid a wreath.  It is easy when walking within the monument to find your own surname engraved in huge walls, the impact cannot truly be felt in my view.

Imagine if you will, a football stadium's worth of people missing or more than twice the current strength of the Royal Navy.  It is hard to understand the impact, then you have to think that these were the husbands, boyfriends, brothers, sons and uncles of so many more people from across the world.  I have not mentioned the women or other civilians that have paid the price but not out of disrespect for them, it is just that when at the monument you tend to focus on the Army, the mud and the trenches.

Although the monument is very impressive you can find such structures all along what was the Westen Front at the time.  The Canadian monument at Vimy Ridge is also a sight to behold, as is the Menin Gate at Ypres.  If I could encourage people to do one thing in their lives it would be to pay a visit to memorials such as these, I include former concentration camps as well, even though that is from a different period.  It is so very important to understand and remember what the human race has endured and to try not to make the same mistakes again.

Returning to our visit, three of our team were told to produce a brief on subjects relevant to our visit.  They were: what were the lessons/improvements in tactics, what is the importance of discipline and how has the casualty reporting changed from what it was then to what it is now?  All of these are relevant, there are a lot of preconceived ideas about the First World War and what a slaughter it was.  I have to be honest I am not well read on the subject but I would encourage anyone who wants to find out more to question the stereotypes and seek out an alternative view.

In terms of lessons learnt a lot of this was concerning the quality and use of artillery, in the main it was the creeping barrage, whereby the soldiers advanced just behind the fall of artillery rounds.  The idea was that the enemy does not have the time to come up from the deep bunkers and man their defences before the attacking forces are on top of them.

The importance of discipline is so obvious that it almost seems odd to question it.  You need to rely and trust your team to do what is asked, part of that is having the discipline both self and imposed to keep order within the ranks.  If you can imagine the breakdown of discipline, which did occur in other armies across the Eastern and Western front, then the ability to defend or attack simply fails leaving the rest of the front vulnerable.  It is inevitable that you will get desertion, cowardice and mutiny within a force when they are put under such pressure, and I do not downplay the effects of shell shock or post traumatic stress disorder.  Discipline and leadership are needed to manage the situation and maintain order.  It is a hugely challenging leadership issue and it is too simplistically described above, suffice to say that it is still relevant today as it was then.  As a modern example you need only look to HMS Nottingham and when she hit a rock off Australia, the ship should have sunk such was the damage.  It did not because the crew, as a whole, had the discipline, trust and leadership to save the ship.  If you look up on Google for HMS Nottingham, you will see the flooding.  Just imagine an 18 year old diving into that, not knowing if the the ship will remain afloat or not, but they do it to effect a repair.  You will have some idea of the courage required and the self discipline to do the job.

In terms of casualty reporting, it was and still is of paramount importance to inform the next of kin as soon as possible and before the media does this for you.  The only difference now is that with the advent of things like Facebook and the desire of the media to report casualties, this is extremely challenging to achieve.

I return to our visit.  After the visit to the Monument to the Missing we were taken up to Thiepval Woods where we were given a tour by an Irish gentleman who, I understand, was 78 years old.  He was extremely knowledgeable about the area and the battlefield and he showed us some trench systems as he told us of events.  You certainly had the impression of what it was like to be there, although it was difficult to orientate yourself on the landscape.  The connection here was that the 36th Ulster division fought in the area and advanced to such an extent, comparatively speaking, that they created a salient, which is not great for defensive purposes.

Following the visit to the woods we then paid a visit to the Ulster Tower, which was erected to commemorate the contribution of the 36th Ulster division, it is this tower that I saw in murals in Belfast only the week before.  The tower is a peaceful and impressive monument and one that I would recommend visiting.  In fact I wish to return in order to spend a bit more time there.

The Ulster Tower

Inside the Ulster Tower

The guide mentioned a book, A Brass Hat in No Man's Land, that was written just after the end of the conflict by a Brigadier General Crozier.  The book is interesting because he describes not only the patriotic side of the conflict but is also critical of some of the leaders found in the trenches and of the business leaders profiting from the war.  He still believed that the war was both inevitable and just, but he had quite clear ideas on how it should be run.  He also talks about the excessive drinking and prostitution that was prevalent in the rear areas.  It is worth a read, if anything, to get an idea about the attitudes to the war and the experiences they had.

This blog has been written piecemeal so I apologize if it is a bit fragmented.