One Night on the Somme

On 1 July 1916, the Lonsdale Pals Battalion went into action with thousands of other British troops and were massacred.

Eight days later, the shattered and traumatised survivors were assigned to undertake another attack across no-mans-land that would inevitably lead to more deaths and injuries.

They ensured that the attack failed and the entire Battalion was subsequently publicly disgraced as part of a policy to ignore the growing problem of shellshock. This humiliation was covered up for over 100 years.

One Night on the Somme is the story of that massacre, the humiliation, the cover up and the eventual rehabilitation of the Battalion’s reputation under an inspirational Commanding Officer.