In Pictures: WWI’s Battle of The Somme, A 100 Years On

The Battle of Somme Cenetary: “At the going down of the Sun, and in the morning, we shall remember them.”

Canadian stretcher bearers carry the dead from a battlefield during the Battle of the Somme, France in July,1916. (Photo: Reuters)

1 July 2016 marks the 100th anniversary of the first Battle of the Somme – one of the bloodiest battles in history which claimed over 1.2 million casualties, and became infamous for its deep trench warfare and artillery bombing of enemy lines.

On the centenary of the Battle of the Somme, Quint Lens curates rare archival pictures of the battle, and juxtaposes them with pictures taken of the preserved battlefield today. Before the battle, the river Somme was a placid stream winding northwards to meet the English Channel.

Then, came the blight and the death of idealism on those fields, changing the idea of an idyllic Somme in the minds of people everywhere. And since then, the Somme has never been the same again.

July 1916: The Battle of Somme Begins

Dead German soldiers lie in their trenches which were demolished during the Battle of the Somme, France in July 1916. (Photo:Reuters)

Dead German soldiers lie after a Canadian charge during the Battle of the Somme, France in 1916. (Photo: Reuters) 

Canadians return victorious carrying war trophies from Courcelette during the Battle of the Somme, France in September 1916. (Photo: Reuters)

Canadian stretcher bearers carry the dead from a battlefield during the Battle of the Somme, France in July 1916. (Photo: Reuters)

A gunnery officer writes a Christmas message on a Canadian heavy howitzer during the Battle of the Somme, France November 1916. (Photo: Reuters)

An archive picture shows French soldiers standing in German trenches seized after being shelled on the Somme front, northern France in 1916. (Photo: Reuters) 

A Viscount in the Armoured Cavalry Branch of the French Army left behind a collection of hundreds of glass plates taken during World War One (WWI) that have never before been published. This images, by an unknown photographer, show the daily life of soldiers in the trenches, destruction of towns and military leaders.

Wounded are dressed in a trench during the Courcelette operation of the Battle of the Somme, France on 15 September 1916. (Photo: Reuters) 

German prisoners carry a stretcher during the Battle of the Somme in November 1916. (Photo: Reuters)

July 2016: 100 Years Later

In this photo taken on Friday, 10 June 2016 by a drone camera, the World War I Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Monument in France. The preserved battlefield, with its infamous trenches is the grounds on which the Newfoundland Regiment made their unsuccessful attack on 1 July 1916, the opening day of the Battle of the Somme. (Photo: AP)

In this photo taken on Friday, 10 June 1916 by a drone camera, the World War I Lochnager Crater in La Boisselle, France. The crater was created by a mine which was blown under a field during the opening day of the Battle of the Somme, 1 July 1916. (Photo: AP)

A WWI soldier’s boot is seen in underground caves accessible by small spiral stairs in the village’s church at Bouzincourt, northern France, 13 July 2015. Neglected for decades, underground caves in Somme valley contain a treasure trove of hundreds of engravings by WW I Canadian and British soldiers as they sought refuge from German assaults. (Photo: Reuters)

War researchers say the engravings in the chalky rocks of Bouzincourt, which range from inscriptions of a soldier’s name to crudely sculpted flags and hearts, offer a powerful insight into the thoughts of those caught up in the Somme Offensive, one of the bloodiest battles of the 20th century.

Unexploded shells wait for their removal by bomb-disposal experts after a farmer found them during 2014’s autumn potato harvest in Colincamps, the scene of a WWI battlefield in the Somme, 98 years ago. (Photo: Reuters) 

Every year farmers unearth several tonnes of shells, shrapnel, gas shells, unexploded grenades, called “engins de mort” (weapons of death), that bomb-disposal experts remove and destroy. Estimates say it will take up to 500 years to clean the “iron harvest” of Somme.

In this photo taken on Friday, 10 June 2016 by a drone camera, the World War I Munich Trench cemetery in Thiepval, France. The cemetery, one of many which dot the vast landscape, contains graves of soldiers who fell during the Battle of the Somme which began on 1 July 1916. (Photo: AP)

Gravestones are illuminated ahead of a vigil at the Thiepval memorial ahead of the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme in Thiepval, northern France on 30 June 2016. (Photo: Reuters) 

(All photos and caption text has been taken from agencies.)

Quint Lens is a selection of the most vivid imagery created by our in-house pool of talent, and from across the web, created and curated with an eye on for that Quintessential twist. In this section, you can find some of the most refreshing camera and mobile photography documenting current news events, the history and everyday culture of India and the world, heartbreaking stories that can only be conveyed through pictures, celebrations and revolutions; basically, anything that simply needs to be CliQed!