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The Battle of the Somme — a new perspective. Part 1

Suren Ratwatte
Tales from the Long War
5 min readFeb 13, 2023

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The Great War

By the summer of 1916 Europe, after almost a hundred years of peace since Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo , was once again embroiled in a huge continental war. The invading armies of the German Empire and the Allies were fighting a conflict billed as a ‘World War’, but it was actually a European one. The broad reach of the empires on opposing sides (Britain, France and Russia against Germany, Austria-Hungary and Turkey) meant that combat stretched over many parts of the globe, but this was essentially a continuation of the rival European powers incessant struggle for domination.

France was invaded by the German Army in August 1914, at the same time as a combined Austro-Hungarian and German force attacked Russia in the east. The German advance towards Paris had been stalled by the winter of 1914, but at a terrible cost. The ‘Western Front’ had morphed into a line of trenches stretching from the English Channel to the Swiss border that cut across some of France’s most fertile farmland and had degenerated into a bloody stalemate.

The Western Front from 1915–1918.

Overconfident and unprepared

Led by General Douglas Haig, the scion of a wealthy family who owned the eponymous whiskey distillery, the British Army was in the throes of transforming itself from a colonial army, to one…

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Tales from the Long War
Tales from the Long War

Published in Tales from the Long War

A compilation of oral histories from the combatants on both sides of Sri Lanka’s long running conflict. We aim to be impartial and record the memories of those who were involved, with no political judgements offered.

Suren Ratwatte
Suren Ratwatte

Written by Suren Ratwatte

I love airplanes and history. Trying to combine both interests in this blog, with stories of the old aircraft and the recollections of those who flew them.

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