Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial

Did You Know?

• The Newfoundland Regiment suffered approximately 80% casualties in an assault that lasted about 30 minutes on 1 July 1916.
• Of the 780 men who went forward, only about 110 survived unscathed, and only 68 were available for roll call the following day.
• The explosion of the 18,000 kilogram Hawthorn Mine under German lines alerted the German forces to the imminent attack.

Background

Newfoundland, a largely rural Dominion of the British Empire with a population of 240,000, had no formal military organization since 1870 when World War I began in 1914. The Government of Newfoundland recruited a force for service with the British Army, and enough men volunteered to form an entire battalion, later maintained throughout the war. The regiment trained in the United Kingdom, growing from 500 to 1,000 men, then deployed to Suvla Bay on the Gallipoli peninsula with the 29th British Division in support of the Gallipoli Campaign.

After that campaign ended, the regiment recuperated and was transferred to the Western Front in March 1916. In France it regained battalion strength and went into the line in April 1916 at Beaumont-Hamel, near the northern end of the 45-kilometre front assaulted by joint French and British forces. The attack, originally scheduled for 29 June 1916, was postponed two days to 1 July 1916 due to inclement weather and to allow more time for artillery preparation.

The 29th British Division faced defences manned by experienced troops of the 119th (Reserve) Infantry Regiment of the 26th (Wurttemberg) Reserve Division, which had been in France since August 1914 and had fortified the Beaumont-Hamel section for nearly 20 months, including deep dugouts and at least two tunnels.

History

In 1921, Newfoundland purchased the ground over which the Newfoundland Regiment made its unsuccessful attack during the first day of the Battle of the Somme. Much of the credit for the establishment of the 74 acre memorial site is given to Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Nangle, the former Roman Catholic priest of the regiment. As Director of Graves Registration and Enquiry and Newfoundland's representative on the Imperial War Graves Commission he negotiated with some 250 French landowners for the purchase of the site.

He also played a leading role in selecting and developing the sites where the Newfoundland memorials currently stand, as well as supervising the construction of each memorial. The memorial site was officially opened by British Field Marshal Earl Haig in 1925. The site is one of only two National Historic Sites of Canada located outside Canada; the other is the Canadian National Vimy Memorial. Both sites are administered by the Veterans Affairs Canada.

Site

The 74 acre preserved battlefield park encompasses the grounds over which the Newfoundland Regiment made their unsuccessful attack on 1 July 1916 during the first day of the Battle of the Somme. It is the largest battalion memorial on the Western Front, and the largest area of the Somme battlefield that has been preserved. Along with preserved trench lines, there are a number of memorials and cemeteries contained within the site. The site is situated near the village of Beaumont-Hamel. Since September 2023 the site has been a World Heritage Site being one of 139 locations included in the newly inscribed Funerary and memory sites of the First World War (Western Front).

Influence on Newfoundland

The memorial site and experience of the Newfoundland Regiment at Beaumont-Hamel has come to represent the Newfoundland First World War experience. As a result, it has become a Newfoundland symbol of sacrifice and a source of identity.