BBC - War Walks Series 1 (1996) Part 4 The Somme

A series of six journeys through six centuries of warfare in the company of military historian Professor Richard Holmes. Dates such as 1066 and names such as Dunkirk often strike a chord of nostalgia, but the details of the historic events associated with them are forgotten. In the War Walks 1-2 Richard Holmes takes us on fascinating journey through time to visit twelve battlefields throughout Britain, Northern France and Belgium that mark crucial moments in Britain's bloody and turbulent history. From Hastings to Dunkirk, Agincourt to The Somme, Richard vividly recreates the atmosphere of these key battles in our history. This series 1 focuses on a selection of battles which six are set in a few hundred square miles of northern France and southern Belgium, a space so confined that a single day's drive could take us across all our battlefields. Choosing the battles from a long list of potential candidates was far from easy, but a certain logic prevails. Battles that had far-reaching consequences, historically and politically, were brought to the forefront of the possible choices. In some cases, because of a battle's importance, it entered part of an enduring mythology that demands attention. For hundreds of years battle has raged over the area of northern France and Belgium known as “the fatal avenue”. This series goes on a journey through the terrain as it is today, seeking to recreate on each walk the atmosphere of the battles through the stories of the men who fought them. This is a guide to six battlefields of northern France and Belgium Agincourt, Waterloo, Mons and Le Cateau, the Somme, Arras, and Operation Goodwood.

Part 4 The Somme

In a desperate attempt to break the deadlock in the trenches on the Western Front, the British launch their first major offensive of the war with their volunteer army. The opening day of July 1916 became the blackest period in British Army history with 57,000 soldiers either killed or wounded in northern France in a matter of hours. Professor Richard Holmes walks through the fields where so many fell and continues the story until the end of the bloody campaign.

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