1st Battle Squadron 1st Battle Squadron The 1st Battle Squadron was a naval squadron of the British Royal Navy consisting of battleships. The 1st Battle Squadron was initially part of the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet. After World War I the Grand Fleet was reverted to its original name, the Atlantic Fleet. The squadron changed composition often as ships were damaged, retired or transferred. As an element in the Grand Fleet, the Squadron participated in the Battle of Jutland. On 5 August 1914, the squadron was constituted as follows: During the Battle of Jutland, the composition of the 1st Battle Squadron was as follows:
Battle of the Somme "What remained of the old first-class peace-trained German infantry had been expended on the battlefield". A war of attrition was a logical strategy for Britain against Germany, which was also at war with France and Russia. A school of thought holds that the Battle of the Somme placed unprecedented strain on the German army and that after the battle it was unable to replace casualties like-for-like, which reduced it to a militia. The destruction of German units in battle was made worse by lack of rest. British and French aircraft and long-range guns reached well behind the front-line, where trench-digging