Joseph Thouard Battle of the Somme Certificate

The Battle of the Somme

The Battle of the Somme (French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme Offensive, took place during the First World War between 1 July and 18 November 1916 in the Somme department of France, on both banks of theriver of the same name. The battle consisted of an offensive by the British and French armies against the German Army, which since invading France in August 1914 had occupied large areas of that country. The Battle of the Somme was one of the largest battles of the First World War: by the time fighting had petered out in late autumn 1916 the forces involved had suffered more than 1.5 million casualties, making it one of the bloodiest military operations ever recorded.

The plan for the Somme offensive evolved out of Allied strategic discussions at Chantilly, Oise in December 1915. Chaired by General Joseph Joffre, the commander-in-chief of the French Army, Allied representatives agreed on a concerted offensive against the Central Powers in 1916 by the French, British, Italian and Russian armies. The Somme offensive was to be the Anglo-French contribution to this general offensive, and was intended to create a rupture in the German line which could then be exploited with a decisive blow. With the German attack on Verdun on the River Meuse in February 1916, the Allies were forced to adapt their plans. The British Army took the lead on the Somme, though the French contribution remained significant.

The opening day of the battle on 1 July 1916 saw the British Army suffer the worst one-day combat losses in its history, with nearly 60,000 casualties. Because of the composition of the British Army, at this point a volunteer force with many battalions comprising men from specific local areas, these losses had a profound social impact and have given the battle a lasting cultural legacy in Britain. The casualties also had a tremendous social impact on the Dominion of Newfoundland, as a large percentage of the Newfoundland men that had volunteered to serve were lost that first day. The battle is also remembered for the first use of the tank. The conduct of the battle has been a source of historical controversy: senior officers such as General Sir Douglas Haig, the commander of the British Expeditionary Force, and Henry Rawlinson, the commander of Fourth Army, have been criticised for incurring very severe losses while failing to achieve their territorial objectives. Other historians have portrayed the Somme as a vital preliminary to the defeat of the German Army, and one which taught the British Army valuable tactical and operational lessons.

At the end of the battle, British and French forces had penetrated a total of 6 miles (9.7 km) into German occupied territory. The British Army was three miles from Bapaume and also did not capture Le Transloy or any other French town, failing to capture many objectives. The Germans were still occupying partially entrenched positions and were not as demoralised as the British High Command had anticipated

Strange request

At the age of 55, 6month before his discharge from the army J A Thouard was chasing copies of his schooling. No idea why.

Thouard Family Outing Easter Monday 1949

Which son is the toddler?

Samuel Fisk 1936

This photo was taken while he was President of the Stanthorpe Show Society

J A Thouard esq Bad reference

He obviously didnt like what was written in the last paragraph

What the hell is he smoking

My First attempt at Fireworks Photography

Yamba New Years Eve

What the?

Where the hell is Matt

We can dance if we want to
We can leave your friends behind
'Cause your friends don't dance and if they don't dance
Well they're no friends of mine
I say, we can go where we want to
A place where they will never find
And we can act like we come from out of this world
Leave the real one far behind
And we can dance

Joseph Thouard`s trial

The Register News-Pictorial (Adelaide, SA : 1929-1931), Saturday 29 June 1929, page 2. This was reported in deatil in Melbourne Papers, interesting to note it also attracted attention in South Australia.

This one word sums up this weeks events

Kayak on Queen St

Hungry Jacks Drive Thru

Ipswich Motorway

Even the Police cars where not safe

Goodna Station with Police cars parked on the highest ground on that side of the road

Parker St Goodna

Mill St Goodna

Bertha St Goodna

Yep

Ironic Sign

The river has spread a long way

Looking back towards Goodna and the Motorway.

Note this is 6 photos wide and it still does not show how far the water spread

Ipswich motorway 12th Jan

Our net connection is back as the water has dropped.

The motor way 14 hours after the previous picture was taken

Unable to post due to floods

We have lost phone and broadband so I can't post all of the pictures of the floods. Will have them up as soon as service is restored. I can't post these off the iPad.

We are all fine and have power, just waiting for life to return to normal then work will go crazy depending on the level of flooding in Brisbane CBD.

For those that don't know I run a team of technicians in the CBD looking after air-conditioning and other building services. My team will be flat out in helping getting the buildings up and running and making them safe for the tenants.

I have a lot of photos of the water over the Ipswich motorway and destruction in the Goodna area, a lot of people are suffering horrific losses of property.

Picnic Shelter Colleges Crossing

Brisbane river at Karalee

Photo from Sam and John, there are tables and shelter under that water that is now covering a park

Ipswich Motorway on ramp Goodna

This should be peak hour

Ipswich motorway at 6.23pm, very few cars on the road. The Goodna exit is closed due to the flooding at the BP. The on ramp to the motorway is also under water.