What was the deadliest battle of World War I?

The Battle of the Somme claimed over one million lives (Image credit: John Warwick Brooke/ Wikimedia Commons)

Question from Brenna Parsons

The first half of the ‘Great War’ was a battle of attrition, where generals would repeatedly send their men lurching slowly forward in a mostly futile attempt to gain ground. This led to huge losses of life on both sides, with over a million soldiers dying in five difference offences. The deadliest single battle likely belongs to the Battle of the Somme, however, which claimed 57,000 British lives on its first day.


Answered by James Horton for Brain Dump in How It Works issue 123.

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