With a few notable exceptions, the French efforts on the Somme have been
largely missing or minimized in British accounts of the Battle of the
Somme. And yet they held this sector of the Front from the outbreak of
the war until well into 1915 and, indeed, in parts into 1916. It does
not hurt to be reminded that the French army suffered some 200,000
casualties in the 1916 offensive.
David O'Mara's book provides an outline narrative describing the arrival
of the war on the Somme and some of the notable and quite fierce actions
that took place that autumn and, indeed, into December of 1914.
Extensive mine warfare was a feature of 1915 and beyond on the Somme;
for example under Redan Ridge and before Dompierre and Fay. The French
limited offensive at Serre in June 1915 is reasonably well known, but
there was fighting elsewhere - for example the Germans launched a short,
sharp, limited attack at Frise in January 1916, part of the diversionary
action before the Germans launched their ill-fated offensive at Verdun.
The book covers the Somme front from Gommecourt, north of the Somme, to
Chaulnes, at the southern end of the battle zone of 1916. The reader is
taken around key points in various tours. For many British visitors the
battlefields south of the Somme will be a revelation; there is much to
see, both of cemeteries and memorials, but also substantial traces of
the fighting remain on the ground, some of which is accessible to the
public.
It has always been something of a disgrace that there is so little
available, even in French, to educate the public in an accessible
written form about the substantial effort made by France's army on the
Somme; this book - and subsequent, more detailed volumes to be published
in the coming years - will go some way to rectify this. British visitors
should be fascinated by the story of these 'forgotten' men of France and
the largely unknown part of the Somme battlefield.
