nayn intended the counter-offensive against the British to be made north of the Somme front, once the British offensive had been shattered.
- Falkenhayn implied after the war that the psychology of German soldiers, shortage of manpower and lack of reserves, made the policy inescapable, since the troops necessary to seal off breakthroughs did not exist. High losses incurred in holding ground by a policy of no retreat, were preferable to higher losses, voluntary withdrawals and the effect of a belief that soldiers had discretion to avoid battle. When a more flexible policy was substituted later, decisions about withdrawal were still reserved to army commanders.
- Churchill, W. S. C. The World Crisis (1923–1931) Philpott, W. Bloody Victory: The Sacrifice on the Somme and the Making of the Twentieth Century (2009)
- Hart 2006, pp. 27–37.
- Hart 2006, p. 37.
- Doughty 2005, p. 291.
- Philpott 2009, pp. 81, 86.
- Foley 2007, pp. 248–249.
- Foley 2007, pp. 206–207.
- Wynne 1939, p. 104.
- Sheffield 2003, pp. 18–19.
- Philpott 2009, pp. 412–413.
- Dowling 2008, pp. xv, 163.
- Sheffield 2003, p. 27.
- Miles 1938, p. 555.
- Simpson 2001, p. 34.
- Sheldon 2005, p. 223.
- Wynne 1939, pp. 100–101.
- Miles 1938, p. 86.
- Sheffield 2003, pp. 21, 64–65.
- Wynne 1939, pp. 100–103.
- Sheffield 2003, pp. 41–69.
- Sheffield 2003, pp. 76–78.
- Sheffield 2003, pp. 79–85.
- McMullin 2006.
- Miles 1938, p. 133.
- Philpott 2009, p. 251.
- Sheffield 2003, pp. 94–95.
- Sheffield 2003, pp. 94–96.
- Sheffield 2003, pp. 98–100.
- Philpott 2009, p. 355.
- Sheffield 2003, pp. 112–124.
- Philpott 2009, p. 383.
- Miles 1938, pp. 458–459.
- Miles 1938, p. 474.
- Sheffield 2003, pp. 130–131.
- Miles 1938, pp. 447–456 & 460–466.
- Miles 1938, pp. 476–477.
- McCarthy 1995, pp. 148–162.
- Miles 1938, pp. 570–572.
- Philpott 2009, pp. 150–151.
- Sheffield 2003, p. 186.
- Edmonds 1932, p. 483.
- Prior & Wilson 2005, p. 119.
- Sheffield 2003, p. 156.
- Philpott 2009, pp. 436–437.
- Duffy 2006, p. 326.
- Sheldon 2009, p. 398.
- Sheldon 2009, p. 4.
- Sheldon 2009, pp. 4–5.
- Miles 1938, p. xv.
- Bond 2002, pp. 1–104.
- Boraston 1919, p. 53.
- Wendt 1931, p. 246.
- Edmonds 1932, pp. 496–497.
- Philpott 2009, pp. 601–602.
- Sheffield 2003, p. 151.
- Miles 1938, p. 553.
- Churchill 1938, p. 1423.
- Philpott 2009, pp. 600–602.
- Churchill 1938, pp. 1427, 1004.
- Churchill 1938, p. 966.
- Doughty 2005, p. 309.
- Prior & Wilson 2005, pp. 300–301.
- Sheldon 2005, p. 398.
- Harris 2008, p. 271.
- Sheffield 2011, pp. 194, 197.
- Philpott 2009, pp. 602–603.
- Boraston 1919, p. 64.
- Falls 1940, p. 115.
- Falls 1940, pp. 95–107.
- Steele 2003, p. 10.
- Steele 2003, p. 192.
- Robinson 2010, pp. 86–87.
- Terraine 1963, p. 230.
- Sheffield 2001, p. 188.
- Duffy 2006, pp. 324, 327.
- Chickering 1998, pp. 70–71.
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- Philpott 2009, p. 625.
- On the German historiography see Foley, Robert T. (2011). "Learning War's Lessons: The German Army and the Battle of the Somme 1916". Journal of Military History 75 (2): 471–504. ISSN 1543-7795.
- On the French historiography see Philpott, William (2009). Bloody Victory: The Sacrifice on the Somme and the Making of the Twentieth Century. London: Little Brown. ISBN 9781408701089., and Greenhalgh, Elizabeth (July 2003). "Flames over the Somme: A Retort to William Philpott". War in History 10 (3): 335–342. ISSN 1477-0385.
- On British historiography see Philpott, William (2006). "The Anglo–French Victory on the Somme". Diplomacy & Statecraft 17 (4): 731–751. ISSN 1557-301X., Deverell, Christopher (Spring 2005). "X. Haig versus Rawlinson-Manoeuvre versus Attrition: The British Army on the Somme, 1916". Defense Studies 5 (1): 124–137. OCLC 55201531., and Coleman, Joseph (2014). "Historiographical Essay on the Battle of the Somme". Retrieved 26 February 2015.
- Bond, B. (2002). The Unquiet Western Front: Britain's Role in Literature and History. London: CUP. ISBN 0-52180-995-9.
- Boraston, J. H. (1919). Sir Douglas Haig's Despatches (1920 ed.). London: Dent. OCLC 633614212.
- Churchill, W. S. (1923–1931). The World Crisis (Odham