Maximum 15 kilometres of land have been won

1 July 1916. For months, the French and British headquarters prepare the offensive will help break the front, while relieving French army taken, since the month of February, in the hell of Verdun. For the lead, the allies chose an area: the sum. More specifically, a line of 40 kilometres, between the towns of Bapaume, Albert and Péronne. On the eve of the battle, the French line 18 divisions; the English, 26. Support for them to carry out the bulk of the offensive on a 25 kilometre front. In the face, Germans, far fewer, benefit from the advantage of the field. In two years of war, the soldiers of the kaiser have transformed the region into an entrenched camp, fortifying villages and weaving a network of hoses and deep shelters. To break all resistance, the guns of the agreement go, as of June 24, a continuous bombardment.

On the morning of July 1, at 7: 28, firing two stlhe dug under the first German line marks the beginning of the commitment. The explosion created a crater of 100 meters in diameter and 30 metres deep, still visible today. Two minutes later, at the time, soldiers cross the parapets and go up to the assault. The enemy defences are virtually intact. According to historians, 30,000 men fall in the first six minutes of the battle. The British, just seasoned and poorly trained, pay the heaviest price: at the end of the first day, 60 of their soldiers are dead, wounded or missing.

A circuit of remembrance

Despite the losses, the battle will last five months, putting out combat nearly 420 British (including dead included and missing 78.000), 202.500 French (dead 39.000 and 27.500 missing) and at least 335.000 Germans (70.200 dead). Maximum, 15 kilometres of land have been won.

For survivors, the trauma is indelible. As early as the 1920s, the sum is the subject of a real "war tourism", as the call today historians. Veterans and families of disappeared persons go on a pilgrimage on the former front line, where are erected dozens of cemeteries, stelae and memorials.

Ninety years later, this war tourism is mutated into a tourism of memory. Under the leadership of the communities, including of the General Council of the Somme, a circuit of Remembrance (92 kilometres) from the main places of the field of battle, between Albert and Péronne was arranged. Each year, thousands of British, New Zealand, Newfoundlanders, and Australians use it, guided by the materials developed by the local tourism professionals. Among the most visited sites, Beaumont-Hamel Memorial and its impressive bronze caribou, set up on a mound of stone. From the top, can discover a network of trenches perfectly preserved and thus understand the Organization of the first lines. Another monument: the Thiepval Memorial, including the vault rises to 45 metres high, dedicated to the 70,000 British and South African whose remains have never been able to be buried. Every year, more than 130,000 people come to gather and visit the interpretation centre. Idem at Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, where each 25 April, 4,000 to 5,000 Australians come together to celebrate Anzac Day and the memory of the "diggers" died in combat.

In 2009, despite a decrease in the number of tourists to revel, the seven main sites of the circuit attracted nearly 420 visitors. An important figure which confirms that today ' today the memory of the battle of the Somme became the main tourism asset of the East of the Department.