British military policeman escorting a wounded German prisoner, with a French cameraman following behind, November 13, 1916.

British military policeman escorting a wounded German prisoner, with a French cameraman following behind, November 13, 1916.

This photograph, colourised by @tom_photografix, were taken today 107 years ago near St. Pierre-Divion during the Battle of the Somme.

By the time the Battle of the Somme came to an end on November 18, 1916, the British Commonwealth forces had suffered some 419,000 casualties among 95,000 deaths, and the French 200,000 casualties with 50,000 deaths. The German losses range wide from 434,000 to 729,000 casualties, with some 164,000 deaths.

 

With a total of 1 - 1.3 million casualties and over 300,000 deaths, the Battle of the Somme is the single bloodiest and deadliest battle of the First World War, as well as one of the bloodiest in the history of warfare.