A Day That Shook The World: Battle of the Somme

(Hulton Archive/Getty)

On 1 July 1916, the Battle of the Somme began.

Widely held to be one of the worst, most wasteful military campaigns in history, the battle - and the German machine guns - cost the lives of tens of thousands of young soldiers on only its first day - for no substantial territorial gains.

The battle would last three and a half bloody months, causing more than 1.5 million casualties in total, for a total gain of six miles.

Watch original footage from the battle, and the consequent protests in Britain, in this British Pathé video, above.