About this episode

This episode discusses the overlooked successes of British troops during the first day of the Somme offensive.

When people think of the Somme, they think of failure: men cut down in no man's land; shattered battalions; and catastrophic losses. Yet along much of the southern part of the battlefield, this is not what happened at all. Here, British troops broke into the German defences, captured villages and advanced further than anywhere else on 1 July. For a few brief hours, it even seemed that the offensive might achieve its planners' hopes. So why did this part of the battlefield look so different? If the attack was succeeding here, why is the first day of the Somme still remembered as such a disaster? Join Our Community: ⁠https://not-so-quiet.com/⁠ Use our code: Dugout and get one month free as a Captain. Support via Paypal:⁠ https://battleguide.co.uk/nsq-paypal⁠ Do you like our podcast? Then please leave us a review, it helps us a lot! E-Mail: ⁠nsq@battleguide.co.uk⁠ Battle Guide YouTube Channel:⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@BattleGuideVT⁠ Our WW2 Podcast:⁠ https://battleguide.co.uk/bsow⁠ If you want to keep your finger on the pulse of what the team at Battle Guide have been getting up to, why not sign up to our monthly newsletter:⁠ ⁠https://battleguide.co.uk/newsletter⁠ Twitter…

People in this episode

Hosts: Dan Hill, Dr. Spencer Jones

Topics covered

• The Somme
• British troops
• German defences
• battlefield success
• military history

Keywords

• Somme
• British troops
• German defences
• military history
• battlefield
• catastrophic losses
• victory

Sponsors

Battle Guide

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Battle Guide, Paypal, YouTube, Dugout

More episodes of WW1: Not So Quiet On The Western Front!

• Bonus Episode: Reichs & Republics The Turnip Winter of 1916/17 · July 20, 2026 · 1h 0m
• Episode 135: The Somme’s Northern Disaster · July 6, 2026 · 1h 12m
• Episode 134: France's Elite Units · June 29, 2026 · 54 min
• Episode 133: The Gallipoli Evacuation: A Forgotten Success Story? · June 22, 2026 · 1h 3m
• Episode 132: Battles that Shaped the 20th Century · June 15, 2026 · 51 min

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