Review of ‘Comparing the battles of the Somme and Arras’ by Mike Coyle (April 2023)

Both Mike’s grandfather and his great-uncle fought in the Great War in separate battalions of the King’s Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster). One fought on the Somme and the other at Arras. Even though the battle of Arras is recorded as ‘the most lethal battle’ and ‘a savage infantry battle’ (although it only lasted 39 days, the average daily casualty rate was far higher than that of the Somme), it remains the lesser-known battle of the two. After the heavy losses and the pressure of fighting on two fronts by the German Army during the Battle of the Somme, the German army withdrew in march 1917 to the ’Hindenburg Line’ or ‘Siegfried Stellung’, an engineering achievement of reinforced concrete blockhouses, which shortened the German line and required fewer men.

At the end of 1916, after the Somme battles had ceased, the British prime minister, HH Asquith, resigned and was succeeded by David Lloyd George. In France, prime minister Aristide Briand resigned in early 1917 after disagreement about the Nivelle Offensive and was succeeded by Alexandre Ribot. In both countries the pressure was to find a way to break the stalemate on the Western Front. After the costly fighting at Verdun & on the Somme, General Robert Nivelle replaced General Joseph Joffre as C-in-C of the French armies on the Western Front in December 1916.

Nivelle claimed he could break the German line with a heavy artillery bombardment followed by a massive infantry attack and Lloyd George had placed General Haig as subordinate to Nivelle, much to Haig’s annoyance. The main French attack would aim to take the Chemin des Dames ridge (just north of the river Aisne), while the British would attack from Arras towards Vimy Ridge,and this would be a diversion before the French attack. Within one week the French offensive faltered with few gains but heavy losses. By the start of May French soldiers in the front-line trenches were refusing to attack, merely to hold their trench line against further German attacks. Nivelle was replaced by Pétain and the new commander restored morale by talking to the men, improving their conditions of service and promising no more suicidal attacks.

This transferred the onus of attack to the British offensive around Arras. In place of a side diversion, this attack became an important part of diverting German attendance from the problems in the French Army. The fighting continued until the middle of May when deadlock and stalemate set in, finishing with a second attack at Bullecourt.

Grounds for comparison between the two battles include: Experience of the soldiers involved, the numbers involved, the length of the front, the casualties, the weather, the use of artillery and the reportage of the battle in newspapers.

The Kitchener men who were involved in the first day of the Somme were very inexperienced, they walked into machine gun fire and shrapnel because the British artillery had been completely inadequate in destroying the German front line and failed in counter-battery fire. The soldiers involved in the Arras battle were better trained, very much more experienced and used the element of surprise (especially at Vimy Ridge) to their advantage. 

On the first day of the Somme, 13 divisions of the BEF were involved, and over the five months (July – November) this number increased to 50. During the battle of Arras, 14 divisions were involved on the first day and 24 divisions in total were involved between April 09 and May 16.

Both battles involved similar length of front – 15 miles (Somme) and 11 miles (Arras). The use of artillery was another crucial difference, there was a higher density at Arras – one piece every 10 yards, twice that for the Somme. As a result, twice as many shells were fired at Arras opposed to at the Somme. Also, the shells were more reliable at Arras with a lower failure rate. The art of counter-battery fire was far better at Arras as well a better co-ordinated creeping barrage.

The casualties at Arras, 159,000 (29,500 killed) at an average daily rate of 4076, were heavier in average than at the Somme, 415,000 (178,000 killed) at an average daily rate of 2943.

Both battles took place during adverse weather conditions, at Arras (in April) there was snow to contend with as well as rain, on the Somme (July – November) heavy rain made the battlefield very muddy reducing the rate of movement of troops.

One answer to the problem over why the battle of Arras seems to be neglected lies in war reportage in local and a selection of national newspapers. In 1916, during the battle of the Somme, the local papers published stories of heroism and loss while national papers followed the government’s line over advances and success. By 1917, Lloyd George’s government kept a closer hand over reporting anything which was deemed to ‘upset’ the nation following of the war. The Defence of the Realm Act (DORA) of 1914 gave the government war time emergency powers. By 1917, it had been extended so that the government could censure any news which it considered against the national interest.

Another important difference is the reception of the official films produced about the battles. ‘The Battle of the Somme’ with cinematography by GH Malins, released in August 1916, was a great success. It was viewed by over 20 million men.  Malins went on to make a film about the battle of Arras, released in June 1917, but this film failed to attract the audiences of 1916 and has been forgotten.

Report by Peter Palmer