Why was the first day of the Battle of the Somme a failure?

The Battle of the Somme was planned by General Sir Douglas Haig. It was fought in an attempt to end the stalemate, and to relieve pressure on the French Army who were fighting at Verdun. The Germans had said they had intended to 'bleed France white' at Verdun. The battle was also fought to make a big push past the German trenches and into Germany. The battle began on 1 July 1916 and ended in November of …

…to the right school and knew the right people. It was no-one's fault that the shells were often duds: in a war that lasted that long, it should have been expected for people to die. The first day of the Battle of the Somme was mainly a failure due to tactics, and if the British army had put the right man in charge of the plans (someone like Rawlinson), this probably would have never happened.