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Furthermore, the tanks proved unreliable and often broke down. The fighting continued until early November when the onset of winter and especially the rain meant that the British could not simply continue.<ref> Keegan, p. 179</ref>

The Somme was one of the bloodiest and perhaps least effective battles of the war. The estimates for casualties are inexact and only educated guesses. The British and French suffered approximately 600,000 killed and wounded. The Germans suffered about 500,000 casualties. The Anglo-French armies did manage to make real and significant gains, especially after the initial phases of the offensive. At the end of the battle in November, the British and French forces had penetrated some 6 miles into German-occupied territory. The offensive had recaptured more than any other battle since the Battle of the Marne in 1914.