1916. The Somme. With over a million casualties, it is a battle that even now remains seared into the national consciousness. Its first day, July 1st 1916, is the bloodiest day in the history of the British armed forces to date. On the German side, an officer famously described it as ‘the muddy grave of the German field army’.

Drawing on a wealth of material from the vast Imperial War Museum Sound Archive, Forgotten Voices of the Somme presents an intimate, poignant, sometimes even bleakly funny insight into life on the front line and in the trenches.
Featuring contributions from soldiers on both sides and of differing backgrounds, ranks and roles, many of them previously unpublished, this is a startling new oral history of the unique and terrible conflict.
Introduction by: Richard Holmes.