1914–1916

The whole Empire goes to war, and the Somme

Story 3 of 7

In the First World War (1914–1918), it was not only Britain itself that fought. The whole British Empire took part: more than a million Indian soldiers fought for Britain in many different countries, and about 40,000 of them lost their lives. Soldiers came, too, from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Africa and the West Indies, and fought side by side with the British.

A 1914 British recruitment poster: Lord Kitchener points at the viewer, under the heading Britons — A recruitment poster from 1914. Lord Kitchener, the Secretary of State for War, points at you: your country needs you. At the start of the war, Britain's army relied entirely on volunteers. Poster: Alfred Leete, Imperial War Museums Q 48378A, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Somme: the worst day

The First World War went on for four years, and millions of people were killed or wounded; Britain alone had more than 2 million casualties. The worst moment came in July 1916, when the British army attacked in northern France at the Battle of the Somme. On the very first day, there were about 60,000 British casualties.

Black-and-white photo: soldiers of the Royal Irish Rifles in a narrow trench during the Battle of the Somme — Soldiers of the Royal Irish Rifles carrying supplies in a trench during the Battle of the Somme, July 1916. This photo is number one (Q 1) in the photo collection of the Imperial War Museums. Photo: Royal Engineers No 1 Printing Company, Imperial War Museums Q 1, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Quiz

Approximately how many British casualties were there on the first day of the Battle of the Somme in 1916?

Era contents: 1900 – 1930