Classic Military Vehicle Magazine 1916 Special Issue

The year 1916 will always be remembered for the Battle of the Somme. Overshadowing the fighting in the Middle East and East Africa, the Irish Easter uprising and even the greatest naval engagement in history at Jutland, it is the Somme that has come to epitomise everything that was both heroic and hopeless in the world's first global conflict.

The First Day of the Somme
At 07:30 hours on 1 July 1916, thousands of British soldiers lurched forward into No Man's Land towards the German wire. What happened next has become the stuff of myth and legend...

The Lochnagar Mine
The opening of the Somme offensive was preceded by the detonation of a large number of mines. The largest of these was referred to as the Lochnagar Mine.

The Battle of Delville Wood
The offensive on the Somme had raged for two weeks when Delville Wood was captured and held against several hostile counterattacks.

Largest Zeppelin Raid of the War
Despite the fact that anti-aircraft batteries and searchlight units had been introduced, German Zeppelins carried out their biggest demonstration of war against the British capital.

The Red Baron's First Kill
The Red Baron, Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen, is seen by many as being the most famous air ace of the First World War. His first kill took place on 17 September 1916.

Germany's Peace Proposal
The four months of fighting on the Somme had cost British and French armies around 650,000 men, but the German Army had suffered similar losses. The German authorities began to realise this was a war they could not win.