The first part shows preparations for the battle; there are sequences of troops marching towards the front, French peasants at work in rear areas, the stockpiling of munitions, Major-General Beauvoir De Lisle addresses the 29th Division and some of the preparatory bombardment by 18-pounder, 60-pounder and 4.7-inch guns, 6-inch, 9.2-inch howitzers and 2-inch mortars is shown.

[1] The second part depicts more preparations, troops moving into front line trenches, the intensification of the artillery barrage by 12-inch and 15-inch howitzers, a 9.45-inch heavy mortar and the detonation of the mine under the Hawthorn Ridge Redoubt.

Part three begins with the attack on the First day on the Somme (1 July 1916), with some re-enactments and shows the recovery of British wounded and German prisoners.

The final part shows scenes of devastation, including the ruins of the village of Mametz, British troops at rest and preparations for the next stage of the advance.

Geoffrey Malins of Gaumont British and Edward Tong of Jury's Imperial Pictures, were to shoot footage for short newsreels.

[2] By early June Tong had fallen ill and been sent home but he and Malins had made five series of newsreels, which although well-received, had failed to impress the British cinema trade.

[5] Before the battle, Malins worked at the north end of the British Somme sector, photographing troops on the march and heavy artillery west of Gommecourt.

German shells were falling as Malins made his way to Lanwick Street Trench; he had to rise above the parapet to remove sandbags and then set up his camera, which was camouflaged with sackcloth.

Malins returned to White City to film the bombardment of the Hawthorn Ridge Redoubt by trench mortars, during which there were three misfires which destroyed a trench-mortar position nearby.

At 7:19 a.m., Malins began filming and the mine detonation shook the ground as troops of Royal Engineers advanced on either side to occupy the crater.

[9] Malins returned to France and from 12 to 19 July filmed sequences of shellfire and of troops advancing from trenches, staged for the camera at a Third Army mortar school near St Pol.

[9] On 10 July, Brigadier-General John Charteris reported to the War Office that some 8,000 ft (2,400 m) of footage had been shot and recommended that sections of film should be released as soon as possible.

Footage was first viewed as a negative on 12 July and Charles Urban is thought to have begun work on the film as editor, with the assistance of Malins.

The screening was preceded by the reading of a letter from Lloyd George, exhorting the audience to "see that this picture, which is in itself an epic of self-sacrifice and gallantry, reaches everyone.

[15] A musical medley with excerpts from classical, folk, contemporary and popular pieces, to be played in cinemas by accompanying musicians, was devised by J. Morton Hutcheson and published in The Bioscope on 17 August 1916.

The Times reported on 22 August that Crowded audiences ... were interested and thrilled to have the realities of war brought so vividly before them, and if women had sometimes to shut their eyes to escape for a moment from the tragedy of the toll of battle which the film presents, opinion seems to be general that it was wise that the people at home should have this glimpse of what our soldiers are doing and daring and suffering in Picardy.Some members of the audience considered it immoral to portray scenes of violence; Hensley Henson, the Dean of Durham, protested "against an entertainment which wounds the heart and violates the very sanctity of bereavement".

[25] On 28 August, the Yorkshire Evening Post printed the comment, attributed to Lloyd George, "If the exhibition of this Picture all over the world does not end War, God help civilisation".

[5] Feilding suggested that the film could reassure new recruits, by giving them some idea of what to expect in battle; the intertitles were forthright, describing images of injury and death.

[43] In 2012, with the support of the Imperial War Museum, there were public screenings of the restored film accompanied by a live orchestra playing the soundtrack of Rossi's music.