Accross the battle field`s of france on 1st july 1916 dawn broke early,for even during the night at the time of year,there was little darkness.In the area of the river somme the arrival of the first pale glimmering`s of lite brought with it a little drizzly rain.However this was soon to pass,and the battle of this tragic harrowing day was destined to be fought under a blue,cloudless sky,and a hot pitless sun.

At the beginning of 1916 the great war had reached a stalemate.The movement of the war`s early week`s was replaced by the static lines of trenches,and the live`s of the soldier`s who occupied them were totally governed by the terrible ascendancy of machine gun`s and artillery.

In august and september of 1914,the german armies had,in a few weeks,swiftly conqured most of Belgium and over run large tracts of northern and eastern france.For the duration of the war-apart from a small area of the vosges-the allied armies never fought in or near germany itself.This fact was to determine much of the strategy and tactics in the future conduct of war.The french,especially,would never contemplate giving up another yard of their country-even to obtain a tactical advantage,On the other hand, and since it was not their homeland,the german high command could, and did make alterations to it`s line where there was a local superiority or benifit to be gained.

On the somme in 1916,for the whole length of the line,british soldiers would have to attack uphill,very often accross open land,and into the path of very well trained german defensive possitions of trenches,redoubts and fortifed villages,Also since the british positions were everywhere overlooked,the german`s had plenty of time to arrange their artillery and site their machine gun emplacement`s to the most deadly advantage.

When war broke out in august 1914 the british army was a small force of well trained , professionals, regular, soldiers, supplemented by territoral regiments.It was thought then ,that the war would be short lasting-perhaps for weeks or.It was planned that the regular army would fight in france and if, necessary supported by the territorals .However as the war, dragged on the regulars and many of the territorals were lost in such battles as Mons, the ypres(1914) and 2nd tpres(1915)and loos in 1915. towards the end of 1914,lord kitchener-the minister of war foresaw that the war would not soon end.Faced with this fact and with so many regular soldiers already in france, he decided on a new ond bold remidy.He would build a new army composed of civillian volunteers raised from all areas of the british isles.while it was being trained the regulars would hold the enemy in france.Thus it came about that the new army of"kitchener`s men"was created by the end of the year nearly120.000 men had enlisted and one of the new divisions made was the 36th ulster division- known as many english soldiers as"carson`s army" it was these volunteers who formed a very extensive part of the army which fought at the somme.Large numbers saw fighting before the battle and many died within minutes of it starting. On the 26th-27th june there was a series of heavy showers which continued untill the 28th.Afterwards,although the sun came out,the land was still very wet ,some trenches waterlogged.Consequently,the infintry attack was postponed untill 0700am,on july 1st,many akward rearrangements had to be made and men already keyed up became more edgy and nervous.However,the slodiers of the ulster division were pleased-that july 1st was the original date of tha battle of the boyne. At 0730am on the day of the battle a huge mine was detonated under part of the german lines,eight minutes later another nine was expolded.At 0730am the bombardment stopped and an eerie silence fell across the front.A few seconds later bugles and whistles sounded the first of the 120,000 soldiers rose from their trenches and went over the top-rawlinson`s plan was to be put to the test.For their attack  the ulster division was compossed of ten battalions with about 730 men per battalion.The soldiers were fortunate because they had assembled in thiepval wood and a large number were thus hidden,at first from the vigilant enemy,also, just beyond theur front line, and at the edge of nomans land, was a sunken road where others could lie concealed and prepare for the advance.Mith has it that the ulster men were now in a state of  patriotic fervour, and that many of those who belonged to the orange order donned their treasured sashes over their cumbersome equipment. prayers were said, hymes were sung and the ulster division were ready for battle.At the signal the ulstermen rose and in a few hours performed acts of courage,valour,and heroism which were unsurpassed anywhere during that long savage day.

F.G.A.U

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