The preoccupation before the Somme was with the danger of the troops taking cover and not restarting the advance once they had lain down. The tactical instruction for the battle, “Training Divisions for Offensive Action” (SS 109), and the associated instruction issued by Fourth Army, “Tactical Notes,” both prescribe an advance by successive waves or lines of troops and a continuous movement forward by all involved. “The assaulting troops must push forward at a steady pace in successive lines, each line adding fresh impetus to the preceding line.”
