Centenary of the Battle of the Somme.

Today, July 1st 2016, marks the centenary of the first day of the battle of the Somme. 100 years ago, thousands of British and Commonwealth soldiers left their trenches to attack the German lines. 

A week long preliminary bombardment, consisting of 1.5 million shells, had been carried out; the goal of which was to obliterate German defences, cut the barbed wire, knock out machine guns positions and prevent opposing artillery from conducting counter-battery fire. Many officers told their men to expect little to no resistance:

“You will be able to go over the top with a walking stick. You will not need rifles. When you get to Thiepval you will find the Germans all dead. Not even a rat will have survived.”

At 07:20 the mine under the German defenses at the Hawthorn Ridge redoubt, which had taken seven months to dig, containing 24,000kg of explosives, was detonated. At 07:28 the Lochnagar mine, containing 27,000 was detonated. These and 17 other mines of varying sizes contributed to what was then the loudest man made sound in history. The German soldiers in the tranches immediately above these explosions were vaporised.

At 07:30 officers all along the line blow their whistles to mark the beginning of the attack. Thousands of soldiers leave the trenches to be met with an alien landscape, scarred and deformed by years of artillery fire. The German defenses across the front are largely intact; German defenders soon re-man their positions.

By the end of he day it is estimated that were 57,470 British casualties (of which 19,240 are dead) and 10,000 German casualties. At the conclusion of the battle on the 18th November 1916, an advance of 6 miles along a 16 mile front had been made. The cost? 419,654 British casualties. 202,567 French casualties. 465,181 casualties.

Such terrible losses are almost incomprehensible; human lives reduced to mere statistics.

Statistics. A word all too relevant to the demographic that I belong to: miniature wargamers, specifically historical wargamers. Miniature wargaming has managed to reduce the carnage and horror of warfare to a set of rules, the movement of figures around a board and the rolling of dice. Is this not disrespectful? To dehumanise, even trivialise those who lost their lives in conflicts throughout history?

To some extent I think it does, but only if we allow it to.

It is our duty as wargamers to respect the history we are retelling; research the conflict we are recreating, find out what actually happened, the names of those involved, and most of all why it happened. By educating ourselves, we can educate others. We can tell stories in an interactive, compelling way unlike any other medium.

The next time you play a historical game, take a moment to think about the people you are representing. Lest we forget.