First day on the Somme: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 10:46, 22 June 2022

Revision as of 17:52, 22 August 2022

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====German====

On the Somme front, the construction plan ordered by Falkenhayn in January 1915 had been completed. [[Barbed wire]] obstacles had been enlarged from one belt {{cvt|5|–|10|yd|m|0}} wide to two belts {{cvt|30|yd|m|0}} wide and about {{cvt|15|yd|m|0}} apart. Double and triple thickness wire was used and laid {{cvt|3|–|5|ft|m|0}} high. The front line had been increased from one trench to three, dug {{cvt|150|–|200|yd|m|0}} apart, to create a front position, the first trench ({{lang|de|Kampfgraben}}) occupied by sentry groups, the second ({{lang|de|Wohngraben}}) for the front-trench garrison and the third trench for local reserves. The trenches were [[Traverse (trench warfare)|traversed]] and had sentry-posts in concrete recesses built into the parapet. Dugouts had been deepened from {{cvt|6|–|9|ft|m|0}} to {{cvt|20|–|30|ft|m|0}}, {{cvt|50|yd|m|0}} apart and large enough for {{nowrap|25 men.}} An intermediate line of strongpoints ({{lang|de|StutzpunktlinieStützpunktlinie}}) about {{cvt|1000|yd|m|0}} behind the front position, wired for all-round defence, had also built. Communication trenches ran back to the reserve lines, renamed the second position, which was as well built and wired as the first position. The second position was beyond the range of Allied field artillery, to force an attacker to stop for long enough to move artillery forward.{{sfn|Wynne|1976|pp=100–101}}

==Prelude==