Having seen the Lochnagar crater today the only way to explain the devastating scene is factually. On July 1st 1916 at 7:28 AM, the British Army detonated the Lochnagar mine – two underground charges of a high explosive compound (respectively 24,000lb and 30,000lb) and destroyed trenches occupied by German infantryman. The explosion followed 16 days of heavy artillery fire and immediately preceded a general infantry charge which began the Battle of the Somme – by midnight of the first day there were 57,470 British casualties (19,240 of whom died of their injuries). The battle of the Somme itself continued until 18 November, 1916 by which point it had claimed over 1,200,000 casualties and more than three hundred thousand people were killed during the course of the battle.