TO modern eyes, the way the Battle of the Somme was reported seems confusing. While our view of the campaign is one of slaughter on a hellish battlefield, the news from the Argus and other papers of the time tells a different story as Martin Wade explains.

Journalism is said to be the ‘first rough draft of history’. It is the story as seen at that time, with all the information the reporter can get at that time. In war, other obstacles get in the way of the truth. ‘The fog of war’, meaning the confusion which surrounds any battle, meant an accurate picture of losses and ground won would not have been clear. Information too was closely guarded by the military.

In the Argus, news first comes of the Somme offensive on the day after the battle began. The Argus of July 8 thunders 'Haig Again Strikes Hard', then exclaiming that the British were 'Sweeping On' and telling of 'Important Successes' with 'Maze of Trenches Taken.'

The official British message was quoted telling of the "vigorous offensive at dawn." The reader learnt that thanks to the "utmost gallantry" of the infantry, the British gained "several important successes".

Another line tells how Sir Douglas Haig's report on our methodical push makes thrilling reading, for it is manifest that the battle now proceeding is being waged with the utmost fierceness on both sides."

But setbacks are admitted. We learn of an attack near a village called Fricourt, south of Thiepval. The enemy was driven from three lines of trenches. At 10am the Germans counter-attack, but this was "crushed by our fire." By noon our infantry capture the village of Contalmaison, but "have since been forced out of the village by a strong counterattack."

The hellish mud of the Somme is hinted at. "Heavy rain has been falling throughout the day, and the sodden ground and flooded state of the trenches have added to the difficulties experienced by the troops."

By July 11th we read the sad and poignant news that Lt Charles Straker of Abergavenny had died of his wounds. The father of the officer in the 3rd Mons, Alderman J Straker had died "just a few weeks ago" the Argus told us.

However, the message from the front was overwhelmingly positive. 'Carried by Storm' says the headline as the story tells of our troops' 'brilliant achievement' in retaking Contalmaison. The Argus reported how new lines of trenches had been taken along with 460 prisoners and "much booty" including howitzers and field guns.

The mood is further brightened by a report of a "Brave Newport officer promoted in the field." Lt Douglas W Cleaver, son of Mr W Bath Cleaver, was on the staff of the Newport Borough Engineer before the war. He was serving in the 16th Siege Battery of the Royal Artillery.

As Gwent soldiers were fighting in the Somme, more were leaving to fight. The Argus reported a "large number of people" at Newport Barracks waving soldiers off. Crowds also followed the departing troops to the railway station. The soldiers were given gifts by well-wishers, including a "handsome Morocco bound and silver mounted wallet, a solid silver cigarette case, inscribed and a cigarette holder."

There is little reference to the heavy casualties suffered by the Welsh at Mametz Wood. Instead, the news continues to be upbeat. "The clearing of Trones Wood (nearby) no less than that of Mametz Wood furnishes excellent evidence of the valour of our troops."

The correspondent tells of the fighting in Mametz Wood. "Two crowded and glorious hours crowned yesterday's fighting and consummated eleven days' continual advance through woods and labyrinths and village fortresses.

He continues: "At 4 o' Clock, the ebb and flow of the mad fighting within the sapling and undergrowth fastness of Mametz Wood ended - for the time at any rate - with the sudden sally of a body of our troops from a north-eastern corner. The return to the open air and the sun must have been like the sight of the sea to Xenophon's Greeks.”

The coverage as with all newspapers may differ sharply from our understanding of what took place on the battlefield. But several things must be borne in mind. Press correspondents were tightly controlled by the military. They did not have any free access to information or individual soldiers. Arguably, there was not the desire to probe and unpick the progress of the battle as there would be now. The press, in common with much of the wider populace was supportive of the war effort and was entirely receptive to the tone of these news reports.

Our reporter does acknowledge how hard the fight was. "They wrestled through felled trunks and stretched wire and saplings. No superlatives can give an idea of the endurance and individual pluck of the troops which forced these barriers. They endured 60 hours' nightmare.”

By July 15th it was becoming clearer what price had been paid by soldiers from Gwent. Under the sombre headline 'Heavy Welsh casualties' , it listed many Gwent soldiers and others from across South Wales who had died in the fighting over the last two weeks, with nearly 500 reported dead in the latest bulletin from the Army.

In contrast, a column on the same page told of the arrival of injured soldiers at Newport. 'More Wounded soldiers' the headline read, before adding 'Cheerful Tommies'. "It was a jovial, light-hearted crowd of wounded British Tommies who arrived by special train at Newport on Sunday evening." The 261 injured had seen fighting at Mametz Wood and Contalmaison.

The Argus told how there was "a huge crowd to welcome and inspire these heroes and some kind-hearted people threw flowers and cigarettes to the soldiers as they passed." Many of the soldiers, the Argus reported were optimistic about the prospects of victory, saying "we have got them on the run this time."

As news of the dead came in, the Argus would sometimes carry pictures of the soldiers who would not return. Their faces would stare out from the pages of the Argus, and those who knew them could join the families in mourning their loss. Those killed on the first day of the battle were announced over the following weeks and months as the fog of war lifted, the dead were named, and their families informed.

So the bright and alert face of Rifleman Fred Parsons, once of Edward Street in Newport looks out at us; as does Private Charles Howells of Lyne Road and many more.

Ultimately, the reporters could not have known the full scale of the horror. There is no flinching from reporting deaths of soldiers or "hellish battles", but the tone always remains upbeat, that there is an overall plan, which Britain and its allies are sticking to. There is never any doubt that those in command of the military were anything less than in control and competent. Later, the British Army would be called “Lions led by donkeys” but no-one would dare call them donkeys until decades after the war had ended.