Yerres Historical Society
|
|
Société d’Histoire d’Yerres
Yerres Historical Society |
|
| Casualties |
|
This battle of the Somme, from July 1st to December 18th, that is to say for 141 days, was even more deadly than the battle of Verdun, essentially for the British army. In total, historiography records: - for the British: more than 400,000 men, killed, wounded and missing; - For the French: about 200,000 men in the same categories; - For the Germans: about 400,000 men. All this for a gain of only 11 km in the deepest part of the pocket. But the Germans were more worn down than it would appear at the time. July 1st is a day of commemoration for the British on the many Commonwealth memorial sites erected in the Somme department. All British people wear a stylized poppy on their lapel in memory of the sacrifice of their soldiers and read the poem of John Mac Crae In Flanders Fields. |