Throughout most of World War I, trenches and barbed wire ran across the entire continent of Europe. On July 1st, 1916, after a devastating artillery bombardment lasting more than a week, 100,000 British soldiers waited in their trenches ready to advance on the German lines. They had been told to expect minimal resistance but, as they picked their way slowly across no-man's land, guns opened fire. Shells burst overhead and wave upon wave of men were machine-gunned down. It was a military catastrophe of unprecedented proportions. Filmed on the battlefield itself, in laboratories and on firing ranges, archaeologists, military historians and other experts investigate all the factors that culminated in the bloodiest day in the history of the British Army.
Verdun went down in history as one of the most sinister battles ever fought. The German General Eric von Falkenhayn waged a war of attrition with only one objection in mind… to kill the enemy. The scale of slaughter was unimaginable but there were also acts of incredible bravery. What happened in this small French city determined the course of the war and symbolised France's will to resist. Verdun was surrounded by what the French believed was an impregnable wall of concrete and steel. But, as the Germans set their sights on the city, they cleared the French reconnaissance and achieved almost complete tactical surprise with their first assault. This was just the beginning of some of the most ferocious and sustained fighting of the war and will be forever remembered as the greatest and lengthiest battle the French ever fought.