Resting in a trench, 1 July 1916

Photograph, World War One, Western Front, (1914-1918), 1916.

British soldiers rest in a support trench during the preliminary bombardment on Beaumont Hamel on the Somme. The 29th Division attacked at 7.30 am on 1 July. Their assault on the fortified village was beaten off by the German defenders and 223 officers and 5,017 other ranks from the division were killed or wounded.

From a collection of 98 official war photographs.