The Battle of the Somme: 1 July 1916

It's 7:28 BST (British Summer Time).  100 years ago it was two minute to zero hour, and the mines beneath the trenches of the German 2nd Army were detonated.  Two minutes later the British 3rd and 4th Armies along with the French 6th Army went "over the top".  It was the worst day in the history of the British Army.  The British 4th Army suffered 57,470 casualties that day, of which 19,240 were killed.  When the battle ended over four months later, the Allies has lost 623,907 men of which 146,431 were killed or missing. had taken.  The Central Powers had taken around 465,000 casualties, of which 164,055 were killed or missing.  Those number are mind boggling, all for a few miles of blasted land.  The British are observing two minutes of silence at 7:28 BST to honor all of those who were forever silenced on that day.