The Big Push was a strategy to end the war at the Somme. An artillery barrage was to wipe out the enemy so Allied troops could walk across no-man's land. On June 24th, the bombardment began. So many shells were defective, the 4.5" Howitzer crew called themselves, 'The Suicide Club.'

The 36th (Ulster) Division was assigned a fortified German entrenchment including a bunker 20 or 30 feet deep, where German troops sheltered from the bombardment. Awaiting 'The Big Push,' in Thiepval Wood, few Ulstermen slept on the eve of July 1st. At 7am, they were issued with rum, though many were teetotal. 30 minutes later, they walked towards German lines to be cut down by machine gun. Four Victoria Crosses, the highest military honour, were awarded to men of the Ulster Divisions for their courage on that day, three of whom were killed. A memorial tower honouring the dead of the 36th (Ulster) Division stands near Thiepval.

Fighting next to the 36th (Ulster), was the 1st Royal Dublin Fusiliers, behind the 2nd Royal Fusiliers and the Lancashire Fusiliers.They went over the top at 9am but were trapped in the British barbed wire. The 2nd Battalion also attacked in the second wave and were stopped by German fire. Their combined casualties came to 479 with many others missing. Captain George Stanton, a medic, whose brother Robert was killed at Gallipoli, died from stomach wounds received at the Somme.

Guillemont was assigned to the 47th Brigade of the 16th (Irish), comprised of the 6th Royal Irish Regiment, 6th Connaught Rangers, 7th Leinsters and 8th Munster Fusiliers. September 1st, 1916, saw Guillemont shelled before an infantry attack. Many shells fell short, killing 200 allied troops. Athy man, Lieutenant John Holland won the 16th's first VC for leading his 7th Leinsters ahead of the barrage, surprising the enemy. 6th Connaught Ranger, Private Thomas Hughes took a machine gun post and three German prisoners, earning a VC. 1,147 of the Brigade's 2,400 soldiers were killed, wounded or missing.

On September 9th, poet Tom Kettle died leading Dublin Fusiliers at the Battle of Ginchy. A month later, close to Ginchy, the 2nd RDF captured their target by hand-to-hand fighting in the trenches. The 10th Dublins, attached to the 2nd Royal Marines, engaged the enemy near Hamel. Fog gave them cover, then a hail storm followed by rain, saw the 10th RDF capture 400 prisoners, with 242 casualties. Four months of fighting at the Somme cost 146,404 Allied dead: the British army, 95,675. The Germans lost 164,055.

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