Discover facts about the Battle of the Somme and see how the site has changed since 1916 with footage from The Battle of the Somme film overlaid with shots of the same locations 100 years on in a poignant reminder of the impact of war. | Imperial War Museum London

The Battle of the Somme 1 July The wholesale slaughter of the working class... The offensive began at 7.30am on 1 July 1916. Many of the infantry who went over the top were volunteers of 1914, including Pals battalions made up of friends, relatives and workmates serving side by side. This was their first experience of a major action in the largest attack the British Army had yet conducted. A sea of thousands of contorted bodies wrapped in funereal shrouds laid out shoulder to shoulder to pay tri