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Where do you get this stuff? What do you think trenches were, if not "protected positions?" At the famous Battle of Mons in 1914 ("The Angels of Mons" story), the British fought from hastily dug firing pits. The Second Boer War had pretty much disabused most military leaders of even contemplating the old Napoleanic-style of marching shoulder-to-shoulder.

A lot of the old films weren't shot under actual combat conditions, but were "dramatized" later. Any filming of actual combat would have placed the camera pretty far from the actual fighting so as to protect the film crew and the rather clunky equipment they used. Considering the quality of cinematography at the time, one would be hard pressed to tell if the soldiers being filmed with "shoulder-to-shoulder" or spread out at fairly decent intervals (~3 to 5 meters was typical from photographs at the time -- note, those photographs never show soldiers advancing "shoulder-to-shoulder" across no-man's land). Indeed, I have never encountered a Great War photograph showing men advancing in the manner you (and the author of the execreble piece) describe.

What demonstrates the sheer lunacy of the Somme was that the year before, at Loos, the Germans took out 5,000 British casualties and suffered not a single casualty. The Germans were so sickened that they stopped shooting when it was clear that the British were withdrawing. One result was that the Germans started to refer to the British as "lions led by donkeys."

My Mom's Grandfather, by the way, was at the Somme, in the British cavalry. He got blown up and his arm atrophied away a couple of years later.

Instead of watching Miss Viva Voom or ET on television you ought to turn on the History Channel or A&E. The entire business is meticulously documented there. It's as good as any college course at the graduate level complete with films. It's indisputable. As far as "Indeed, I
have never encountered a Great War photograph showing men advancing in the
manner you (and the author of the execreble piece) describe." I am not responsible for your lack of research, ignorance, or blindness. You are just pissing in the wind and determined to have your way. As far as the "author of the execreble piece, I am the author." The best thing you could do would be to cease thinking you are important and shut your mouth.