Lesson Y9-U03-L05

The Somme Lions Led by Donkeys Quiz: KS3 History, Unit 16

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson Y9-U03-L05, The Somme Lions Led by Donkeys: 20 multiple choice questions for the KS3 History (National Curriculum), Unit 16: Year 9: WW1 Warfare, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. On what date did the Battle of the Somme begin?

    • 1 July 1916
    • 1 August 1914
    • 11 November 1918
    • 15 September 1916

  2. What was a main aim of the British attack along the Somme in 1916?

    • Capture Berlin
    • End the war
    • Defeat Russia
    • Relieve the French

  3. How long did the opening bombardment on the Somme last?

    • Seven weeks
    • Seven hours
    • Seven days
    • Seven months

  4. Roughly how many artillery shells were fired in the opening Somme bombardment?

    • 5 million
    • 500,000
    • 100,000
    • 1.5 million

  5. Which factor caused many British shells to fail during the Somme bombardment?

    • Heavy rain
    • Too few guns
    • Manufacturing duds
    • Enemy capture

  6. Roughly how many British casualties were there on the first day of the Somme?

    • About 5,700
    • About 570,000
    • About 2,000
    • About 57,000

  7. Roughly how many of the first day's British casualties were killed?

    • About 1,900
    • About 190,000
    • About 19,000
    • About 900

  8. Who popularised the phrase 'lions led by donkeys' in his 1961 book 'The Donkeys'?

    • Erich von Falkenhayn
    • Lloyd George
    • Alan Clark
    • Douglas Haig

  9. Which 1980s television comedy popularised the image of incompetent World War One generals?

    • Only Fools and Horses
    • Fawlty Towers
    • Dad's Army
    • Blackadder Goes Forth

  10. Which 1960s musical satirised World War One generals?

    • Blackadder Goes Forth
    • The Monocled Mutineer
    • Journey's End
    • Oh! What a Lovely War

  11. What is a historical interpretation?

    • A later view
    • An unproven artefact
    • A primary eyewitness document
    • An exact transcript

  12. On what date did the Battle of the Somme finally end?

    • 01/07/1916
    • 18/11/1916
    • 11/11/1918
    • 25/12/1916

  13. How much ground did Haig's attacks gain over more than four months?

    • About 700 yards
    • About 700 miles
    • About 70 miles
    • About 7 miles

  14. Roughly how many German troops were killed or wounded at the Somme?

    • About 600,000
    • About 60,000
    • About 6 million
    • About 6,000

  15. What tactical improvement did Allied forces use in later 1918 attacks?

    • Cavalry charge
    • Night parachute drops
    • Gas trench floods
    • Creeping barrage

  16. Why did General Haig struggle to receive real-time updates from the front line?

    • No telephone link
    • Broken radios
    • Captured couriers
    • Missing carrier pigeons

  17. In what year was a major positive tribute published honouring Field Marshal Haig after his death?

    • 1918
    • 1928
    • 1939
    • 1916

  18. Which wider cultural factor influenced Alan Clark's harsh 1961 view of Haig?

    • Cold War tension
    • Victorian patriotism
    • Edwardian optimism
    • 1960s anti-war mood

  19. What term describes judging past decisions using later knowledge?

    • Hindsight
    • Provenance
    • Propaganda
    • Bias

  20. Which British commander led the forces on the Western Front from 1915?

    • Winston Churchill
    • Lloyd George
    • Sir Douglas Haig
    • Lord Kitchener

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