Editing First day on the Somme (section)

=====La Boisselle=====
{{main|Capture of La Boisselle}}
[[File:La Boisselle sector 1 July 1916.png|thumb|{{centre|The 34th Division attack on [[La Boisselle]]}}]]
The 34th Division (New Army) was to attack along the Albert–Bapaume road, aided by the blowing of Lochnagar mine and Y Sap mine (the largest mine explosions of the day) either side of La Boisselle. The mine at Y Sap, north of the village, caused no casualties as the Germans had evacuated the area in time but the springing of the Lochnagar mine, south of the village, temporarily trapped German troops in shelters nearby and the position was lost.{{sfn|Edmonds|1993|pp=391–392}} Parties of the [[Grimsby Chums]] got into the Lochnagar mine crater before being pinned down by German small-arms fire. The [[Tyneside Scottish Brigade]] was to attack up Mash Valley and against La Boisselle at the Glory Hole ({{lang|fr|[[L'îlot de La Boisselle|L'îlot]]}} to the French and {{lang|de|Granathof}} to the Germans). The [[Tyneside Irish]] were in reserve, ready to advance and capture the second objective from Contalmaison to Pozières.{{sfn|Edmonds|1993|pp=371–375}}

At zero hour, the Tyneside Scottish Brigade started its advance from the Tara–Usna Line (a British reserve position behind the front line) to cross {{cvt|1|mi}} of open ground before they reached no man's land. Despite machine-gun fire, a party of around {{nowrap|50 men}} survived to advance up Sausage Valley, south of La Boisselle, almost to the edge of Contalmaison. The survivors were captured after making the furthest British advance of the day, about {{cvt|4000|yd|mi+km}}.{{sfn|Edmonds|1993|pp=375–384}} The positions of Reserve Infantry Regiment 110 had been severely damaged in the bombardment but the regiment was forewarned of the British attack by a {{lang|de|Moritz}} device, which eavesdropped on British telephone signals and allowed the Germans to withdraw before the Y Sap mine exploded.{{sfn|Edmonds|1993|pp=391–392}} The 34th Division suffered the worst [[casualties]] of the day, {{nowrap|6,380.}}{{sfn|Edmonds|1993|p=391}}