In Flanders Fields
Newfoundland Park, Beaumont-Hamel, Somme, France
The area has been maintained because of the significance to Newfoundland; the Newfoundland Regiment, which was part of the 88th Infantry Brigade within the 29th Division, attacked here on the 1st of July 1916, and suffered appalling losses.
After the War, Newfoundland purchased this land in 1921, and first it and then the Canadian government (after 1949) have maintained it since as a memorial. It was officially opened in 1925, by Earl Haig. In 1997 it was designated a Canadian National Historic Site.
The statue of the Caribou was chosen for the Memorial, as it was the symbol of the Newfoundland Regiment.
There is a great deal to see within the park, including memorials and cemeteries as well as the preserved trench lines. There is also a visitors centre with information on the Newfoundlanders and also a shop and toilets.
29th Division Memorial
Just inside the entrance to the Park is the memorial to the 29th Division, raised above the level of the park. The monument was unveiled on the 7th of June 1925, with a guard of honour which included men who had served with the 29th in the Great War. This was the same day as the Park itself was opened.
The 29th Division was in action at Gallipoli, before coming to France in April 1916. The Royal Newfoundland Regiment were a part of this Division, and although on the 1st of July, some troops of the 29th Division did reach the village of Beaumont Hamel, they were forced back. The village was not taken until the 13th of November, when the 51st (Highland) Division successfully attacked. There is a memorial to that Division on the other side of the Park
The Newfoundland Caribou: Memorial to the Missing
A little further is the Newfoundland Caribou and the Memorial to the Missing. The caribou was chosen as the symbol for memorials to the Newfoundlanders, and similar statues are also located at a number of other sites on the Western Front where the regiment was in action.
The Caribou and memorial here was unveiled by Lord Haig on a beautiful June day in 1925, and J. R. Bennett, the Newfoundland Colonial Secretary, also gave a speech. Lord Haig toured the park, which in those days was little changed from the war, with barbed wire entanglements, shell holes, rifles and other war debris scattered around.
Just in front of the Caribou are the original 1st of July frontline trenches that the British and Newfoundland troops attacked from. Steps lead up to the Caribou, and the vantage point here is an excellent place to look over the battlefield where the Newfoundlanders fought on the 1st of July, 1916.
The Newfoundland Regiment attacked as part of the second wave, at 9.15 a.m. Within half an hour they had suffered terrible losses, with more than 90% becoming casualties. Set into the stones at the base of the mound on which the caribou stands are three bronze panels listing Newfoundland's missing. The central panel lists the missing of the Newfoundland regiment, whilst the two smaller panels on either side list the naval and mercantile missing.
As you walk through the park and past the Caribou, you can see a few silent pickets (to support barbed wire) in the ground. Immediately after the war, there was a great deal of such war material lying around here, and access to most of the Park was permitted. Today, due to the numbers of visitors, access is limited to a few areas, with electric fences to stop visitors straying beyond these.
The advance here was actually downhill - unlike in many other places on the 1st of July 1916 - but there was no cover, and the advancing troops were met by machine-gun fire. About half-way across No Mans Land is the Danger Tree - a preserved tree, thought to be original, which probably marks about the limit of any Newfoundlanders advance that day.
Newfoundland Park, Beaumont-Hamel, Somme, France
The area has been maintained because of the significance to Newfoundland; the Newfoundland Regiment, which was part of the 88th Infantry Brigade within the 29th Division, attacked here on the 1st of July 1916, and suffered appalling losses.
After the War, Newfoundland purchased this land in 1921, and first it and then the Canadian government (after 1949) have maintained it since as a memorial. It was officially opened in 1925, by Earl Haig. In 1997 it was designated a Canadian National Historic Site.
The statue of the Caribou was chosen for the Memorial, as it was the symbol of the Newfoundland Regiment.
There is a great deal to see within the park, including memorials and cemeteries as well as the preserved trench lines. There is also a visitors centre with information on the Newfoundlanders and also a shop and toilets.
29th Division Memorial
Just inside the entrance to the Park is the memorial to the 29th Division, raised above the level of the park. The monument was unveiled on the 7th of June 1925, with a guard of honour which included men who had served with the 29th in the Great War. This was the same day as the Park itself was opened.
The 29th Division was in action at Gallipoli, before coming to France in April 1916. The Royal Newfoundland Regiment were a part of this Division, and although on the 1st of July, some troops of the 29th Division did reach the village of Beaumont Hamel, they were forced back. The village was not taken until the 13th of November, when the 51st (Highland) Division successfully attacked. There is a memorial to that Division on the other side of the Park
The Newfoundland Caribou: Memorial to the Missing
A little further is the Newfoundland Caribou and the Memorial to the Missing. The caribou was chosen as the symbol for memorials to the Newfoundlanders, and similar statues are also located at a number of other sites on the Western Front where the regiment was in action.
The Caribou and memorial here was unveiled by Lord Haig on a beautiful June day in 1925, and J. R. Bennett, the Newfoundland Colonial Secretary, also gave a speech. Lord Haig toured the park, which in those days was little changed from the war, with barbed wire entanglements, shell holes, rifles and other war debris scattered around.
Just in front of the Caribou are the original 1st of July frontline trenches that the British and Newfoundland troops attacked from. Steps lead up to the Caribou, and the vantage point here is an excellent place to look over the battlefield where the Newfoundlanders fought on the 1st of July, 1916.
The Newfoundland Regiment attacked as part of the second wave, at 9.15 a.m. Within half an hour they had suffered terrible losses, with more than 90% becoming casualties. Set into the stones at the base of the mound on which the caribou stands are three bronze panels listing Newfoundland's missing. The central panel lists the missing of the Newfoundland regiment, whilst the two smaller panels on either side list the naval and mercantile missing.
As you walk through the park and past the Caribou, you can see a few silent pickets (to support barbed wire) in the ground. Immediately after the war, there was a great deal of such war material lying around here, and access to most of the Park was permitted. Today, due to the numbers of visitors, access is limited to a few areas, with electric fences to stop visitors straying beyond these.
The advance here was actually downhill - unlike in many other places on the 1st of July 1916 - but there was no cover, and the advancing troops were met by machine-gun fire. About half-way across No Mans Land is the Danger Tree - a preserved tree, thought to be original, which probably marks about the limit of any Newfoundlanders advance that day.