Battle of the Somme

The First Battle of the Somme, (COMIC: Time Bomb! ^[+]Loading...["Time Bomb! (comic story)"]) usually called simply the Battle of the Somme or the Somme Offensive (AUDIO: Men of War ^[+]Loading...["Men of War (audio story)"]) and informally described at the time as the Big Push, (COMIC: The Weeping Angels of Mons ^[+]Loading...["The Weeping Angels of Mons (comic story)"]) was a major battle on the Western Front (COMIC: The Weeping Angels of Mons ^[+]Loading...["The Weeping Angels of Mons (comic story)"]) of World War I that took place in the Somme (COMIC: Time Bomb! ^[+]Loading...["Time Bomb! (comic story)"], The Weeping Angels of Mons ^[+]Loading...["The Weeping Angels of Mons (comic story)"]) between 1 July and 18 November 1916. (AUDIO: Men of War ^[+]Loading...["Men of War (audio story)"]}

	First Battle of the Somme Big Push
	Time Bomb! [+]Loading...["Time Bomb! (comic story)"]
	AUDIO: Men of War [+]Loading...["Men of War (audio story)"]
	World War I
	1 July - 18 November 1916
	The Somme

The First Doctor, Steven and Sara during the Battle of the Somme. (AUDIO: Men of War ^[+]Loading...["Men of War (audio story)"])

Whilst searching through time for the Seventh Doctor, Death's Head materialised in the "no man's land" between the British and German lines of a battlefield in 1916. He mistook a German tank for his mother, then realised it wasn't and fired upon it. Before he could do more damage, he was again pulled through time by the Intra-Venus, Inc. time machine he was wearing. Mystified British soldiers thought that Death's Head was "Jerry's new secret weapon." (COMIC: Time Bomb! ^[+]Loading...["Time Bomb! (comic story)"])

Richard Hadleman was near-mortally wounded in a poison gas attack in July 1916, but was saved by Timothy Dean, who was working with the Red Cross. (PROSE: Human Nature ^[+]Loading...["Human Nature (novel)"])

Jamie Colquhoun's regiment under the command of Captain Douglas Fairbairn participated in the Big Push in July 1916 and took the town of St Michel meeting no resistance because the town was emptied by the Weeping Angels. (COMIC: The Weeping Angels of Mons ^[+]Loading...["The Weeping Angels of Mons (comic story)"])

The Sontaran soldier Brak crashed on Earth in the midst of the battle. The unfamiliar kind of warfare overwhelmed him and (AUDIO: Old Soldiers ^[+]Loading...["Old Soldiers (BBV audio story)"]) he was captured by the Germans, later being transferred to British custody (AUDIO: Old Soldiers ^[+]Loading...["Old Soldiers (BBV audio story)"], HOMEVID: Fog ^[+]Loading...["Fog (home video)"]) in 1918. (AUDIO: Old Soldiers ^[+]Loading...["Old Soldiers (BBV audio story)"])

Paul Reynish also fought in the battle. (HOMEVID: When to Die ^[+]Loading...["When to Die (home video)"])

Andrew Medcalfe fought in the battle, after which he never wished for excitement again. (PROSE: Nightshade ^[+]Loading...["Nightshade (novel)"])

Jack Harkness fought in the battle. He compared this battle and the Battle of Passchendaele to "walking into Hell". (TV: To the Last Man ^[+]Loading...["To the Last Man (TV story)"])

George Finch fought in the battle. (AUDIO: Intelligence for War ^[+]Loading...["Intelligence for War (audio story)"])

Behind the scenes

• The name "Big Push" was actively used in contemporary press, such as this article "Battle of the Somme: The Big Push in Pictures" [1] in a New Zealand newspaper from October 1916.
• One possible "game over" for the video game Don't Blink has the player being sent back in time by a Weeping Angel to the year 1916 to die in the Battle of the Somme.