WW1: The Battle of the Somme

In July 1916, Britain led an Allied offensive against German positions on the Western Front near the Somme river in France. The British army suffered 60,000 casualties on the first day. By the end of the battle in November, one million men had been killed or wounded. The Somme became synonymous with the horrors of war.

We hear BBC archive recordings of veterans who fought in one of the bloodiest battles in history.

This programme, first broadcast in 2016, was presented by Alex Last.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there.

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(Photo: British troops go forward in 'No Man's Land', August 1916. Credit: IWM/Getty Images)