Battle of the Somme

The First Battle of the Somme, also informally called the Battle of the Somme, was a major battle on the Western Front (COMIC: The Weeping Angels of Mons) of World War I that took place in the Somme in 1916. (COMIC: Time Bomb!, The Weeping Angels of Mons)

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!)

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)

The Sontaran soldier Brak witnessed the battle, and was captured by British forces shortly after it. (AUDIO: Old Soldiers)

Behind the scenes

 * In reality, the battle took place from 1 July to 18 November 1916. Several sources within the Doctor Who universe refer to fighting "in the Somme" or "in Somme" and occasionally date this fighting to other years, including 1914 (PROSE: Eater of Wasps) and 1917 (PROSE: Death and Diplomacy). This should not be mistaken for alternative dates suggested for the Battle of the Somme. The area suffered at least three major named battles during World War I, including in 1914,  in 1918, which is confusingly sometimes called "The First Battles of the Somme, 1918" and   in 1918. Given these multiple battles, the trench-warfare nature of World War I and the fact that the Somme is also the name of a river, an extreme caution has to be exercised when adding material to this page. A mere mention of "the Somme" does not yet place it within this particular Battle of the Somme.
 * The comic story Time Bomb! does actually specify it as the "First Battle of the Somme", which is the most technically correct designation. Nevertheless, "Battle of the Somme" generally means to most people the 1916 action, not the 1918 "Second Battle of the Somme".