page_title: First day on the Somme
section_title: Serre
hierarchical_section_title: First day on the Somme / Battle / British Fourth Army / VIII Corps / Serre
caption_attribution_description: Español: Voladura de la primera galería subterránea bajo el campo de batalla del Somme. 7:20 de la mañana, 1 de julio de 1916. The explosion of the mine beneath Hawthorn Ridge Redoubt on July 1, 1916. See Image:Hawthorn Ridge mine 1 July 1916 2.jpg for a later photograph in this sequence.
context_page_description: The first day on the Somme, 1 July 1916, was the beginning of the Battle of Albert, the name given by the British to the first two weeks of the Battle of the Somme. Nine corps of the French Sixth Army and the British Fourth and Third armies attacked the German 2nd Army from Foucaucourt south of the Somme northwards across the Ancre to Serre and at Gommecourt, 2 mi beyond, in the Third Army area. The objective of the attack was to capture the German first and second positions from Serre south to the Albert–Bapaume road and the first position from the road south to Foucaucourt.
  The German defence south of the road mostly collapsed and the French had "complete success" on both banks of the Somme, as did the British from Maricourt on the army boundary, where XIII Corps took Montauban and reached all its objectives and XV Corps captured Mametz and isolated Fricourt. The III Corps attack on both sides of the Albert–Bapaume road was a disaster, making only a short advance south of La Boisselle, where the 34th Division suffered the most casualties of any Allied division on 1 July.
context_section_description: The 4th Division attacked between Serre and Beaumont-Hamel and captured the Quadrilateral (Heidenkopf) but could not exploit the success, because of the repulse by the Germans of the attacks by the flanking divisions. Crossfire from Beaumont Hamel and Serre and determined counter-attacks held up the 4th Division. Parties of Lancashire Fusiliers, Seaforth Highlanders and troops from the 11th Brigade entered the Quadrilateral, where they were reinforced by a company of the Royal Irish Fusiliers during the night. Except at the Quadrilateral, the 4th Division ended the day back at its start line. No other gains were made and German counter-attacks overnight pushed the parties in the Quadrilateral back until only the Irish Fusiliers remained in the German front line, not having received an order to retreat early on 2 July. The Irish eventually withdrew at 11:30 a.m. with their wounded and three prisoners; the 4th Division had 5,752 casualties. In 2006, G. P. Kingston recorded 5,890 casualties in the division during July.
  The 31st Division, a New Army division made up of Pals battalions, was to capture Serre and then turn north to form the northern defensive flank of the Fourth Army. The 31st Division attacked uphill from several copses and the two attacking brigades were engaged by the Germans with small-arms fire, expending 74,000 bullets against the attack. Small groups of the Accrington Pals and the Sheffield City Battalion managed to cross no man's land and reach Serre and a party advanced 1.25 mi (2 km) to Pendant Copse, before being cut off and killed or captured. Reserve Infantry Regiment 121 was confronted by the British attack before all the troops had emerged from their dugouts. More than three infantry sections were blown up in the mine explosion at Hawthorn Redoubt, the rest of the garrison being trapped until the end of the attack. A counter-attack towards the redoubt by two platoons gradually bombed the British back; after an hour only the troops in the Heidenkopf remained and it was re-captured during the night. Reserve Infantry Regiment 119 suffered 292 casualties, Reserve Infantry Regiment 121 560, Infantry Regiment 169 362; the 31st Division suffered 3,600 casualties.
caption: Explosion of the mine beneath Hawthorn Ridge Redoubt, 7:20 a.m. Photo by Ernest Brooks
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