British deaths in the Somme department during the First World War 1915-1918

In the context of the First World War, the Somme department of France is most synonymous with the Somme Offensive of 1916, which lasted for almost five months and was one of the costliest battles in history. Over 206 thousand British soldiers died in the Somme department between 1915 and 1918; 128 thousand (62 percent) of which were during the Somme Offensive between July and November 1916. British forces moved into the area one year before the First Battle of the Somme, and had a continuous presence throughout the rest of the war. Fighting was sporadic and much smaller in scale outside of the main offensive, although the conflict did intensify during the German Spring offensive in 1918, and then the final Hundred Days Offensive which began in August that year.