It's been 100 years since the start of one of history's bloodiest battles

W.I. Castle/Library and Archives Canada/via REUTERS

Friday July 1 marks the 100th anniversary of the start of the Battle of the Somme. Somme, estimated to be the bloodiest in World War I, lasted for five months.

The first day of the battle was the worst single day in the history of the British Army's overall casualties with nearly 60,000 dead or wounded.

Despite appalling losses, the battle produced minimal gains for either side. The remainder of the battle quickly devolved into trench warfare, and upwards of 1,250,000 soldiers were killed or wounded before the battle ended on November 1, 1916. 

Below, we have pulled archival images from the archives that show the terror of the battle.

Shrapnel bursts over a reserve trench above Canadian lines during the Battle of the Somme, in France, 1916.

1916An archive picture shows soldiers and horses amid a destroyed spot on the battlefield at Maurepas on the Somme front, northern France October 1916.

Canadian stretcher bearers carry the dead from a battlefield during the Battle of the Somme, France in July,1916.