The first stage of the brutal Battle of the Somme commenced on July 1st. Initially, the Allied forces made some significant gains against the compromised German defenses. However, as the bloody day moved on, the Germans dealt the British a tremendous defeat. On the first day of the Battle of the Somme, British forces lost over nineteen thousand troops; over thirty-eight thousand more were injured. It remains one of the bloodiest days in modern military history.
