Battle of the Somme

Catalogue Reference:(IWM) Q3983

Sikh despatch riders with their bicycles at the cross roads of Fricourt and Mametz Road during the Battle of the Somme in France in July 1916. The bicycles of the two men in the foreground are fitted with a special bracket to support their rifles. The man in front has the rank of Sergeant shown by the stripes on his right shoulder. The loss of life on the Somme was terrible: on the first day of the battle alone the British casualties numbered 60,000, one third of which had been killed.