UK 2016 £5 The 100th Anniversary of The Battle of The Somme Silver Proof CoinIn the summer of 1916 the British and French armies launched a joint offensive. General Sir Douglas Haig hoped to rupture German lines at the Somme, break the deadlock of trench warfare and bring about a more mobile style of war. The Big Push would battle harden his troops in the process, many of whom were the enthusiastic but inexperienced volunteers of 1914 and 1915.