| Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary 1,806,061,025 visitors served. |
|
Dictionary/ thesaurus | Medical dictionary | Legal dictionary | Financial dictionary | Acronyms | Idioms | Encyclopedia | Wikipedia encyclopedia | ? |
Somme, Battle of the |
Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Wikipedia, Hutchinson | 0.04 sec. |
Somme, Battle of the(July 1–Nov. 13, 1916) Allied offensive in World War I. British and French forces launched a frontal attack against an entrenched German army north of the Somme River in France. A weeklong artillery bombardment was followed by a British infantry assault on the still-impregnable German positions. Nearly 60,000 British casualties (including 20,000 killed) occurred on the first day. The offensive gradually deteriorated into a battle of attrition, hampered by torrential rains in October that made the muddy battlefield impassable. By the time it was abandoned, the Allies had advanced only 5 mi (8 km). The staggering losses included 650,000 German casualties, 420,000 British, and 195,000 French. The battle became a metaphor for futile and indiscriminate slaughter. How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
|
| ? Mentioned in | ? References in periodicals archive | |
|---|---|---|
That Tolkien was at the Battle of the Somme is without question, yet it is still worth recalling the nature of this five-month slaughter in order to begin to understand its effects on the young writer: A casual search of the Barnes & Noble bookstore Web site (this chain is the equivalent of the Canadian Chapters/Indigo stores) revealed that 20 books (new and re-prints of older titles) were published in 2005-06 on the Battle of the Somme alone. Krikorian, noting the ``agitated'' revisions on the handwritten sheet, said he believes the ``ingenious devices'' phrase, which was added later, is a reference to the mechanized warfare Tolkien saw during the Battle of the Somme in World War I, when he served with the Lancashire Fusiliers and saw many of his closest friends killed. |
| Encyclopedia |
| Free Tools: |
For surfers:
Free toolbar & extensions |
Word of the Day |
Help
For webmasters: Free content | Linking | Lookup box | Double-click lookup | Partner with us |
|---|