How we brought the Somme to life for readers 100 years ago

German prisoners help to carry British wounded back to their trenches (PA Archive)

“THE Big Push! That longed-for event in the West is now five days old.

“The first blow has been struck and under it the enemy has reeled like a weakening prize-fighter caught square on the point.”

This was how The Sunday Post – in its days as The Saturday Post – broke news of the Battle of the Somme on Saturday, July 8, 1916, under the headline “Scots attack to the skirl of bagpipes”.

Of course, with the hindsight of a century, we can see what a horrific bloodbath the offensive was, with more than a million casualties on all sides.

But it’s interesting to travel back in time to the weeks and months over which the battle was fought.

The front pages of The Sunday Post give a fascinating insight into how the fighting was reported while the battle was still raging.

There was the photo of a huge artillery piece under the headline “Giant gun batters down Hun defences in the Great Somme Offensive”. And the dramatic illustration of British soldiers launching a bomb and bayonet attack.

It was, of course, triumphant stuff. The job of the paper at the time was to rally the country.

This weekend, however, the mood is one of sombre reflection and remembrance.

In Glasgow, paving stones remembering two local soldiers who won Victoria Crosses in the battle were unveiled. There was an overnight vigil in Banchory, Aberdeenshire, followed by a wreath laying. And in Dundee the Law war memorial was lit from 6am until midnight.

Memorials and ceremonies were also being held around the UK and in France, with the Queen leading the nation in commemoration.

Of course, back in 1916 there was no inkling, to begin with at least, of the scale of the carnage that we remember this weekend.

One of the most fascinating pieces we ran was headed “The Great Somme Battle described by the men who were in it”.

It begins with some short observations from serving soldiers.

“We’ve got ’em hoppin’ this time!”

“Best show I ever saw. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world!”

“Mine’s nothing – a couple of machine gun bullets. Why half of us can be at ’em again in a week or two.”

“A good many of us pipped, of course. But you should see the stacks of their dead.”

It was all cheery, defiant stuff. But even then there was some suggestion of the horrors the men were experiencing.

A young officer trapped in a sunken road pounded by German shells recalled: “Some of the sights were awful. One by one the shells found the men in the sunken road and killed them.

“I couldn’t move – I had been shot in the lung – and as the shells came closer I found myself watching them almost with amusement. I felt no sensation of fear.”

Sadly, this short report was merely a hint at the true horrors of the bloody Battle of the Somme.

Incredible account from survivor of the Battle of the Somme is published for the first time since 1918