Beaumont-Hamel
The Somme region of Picardy in northern France is synonymous
with the fiercest battles fought in the First World War and of the
many rural villages in this beautiful and pastoral area that
witnessed the conflict, Beaumont-Hamel was the closest to the front
line.
Beaumont-Hamel, and the vast plateau upon which it is located,
became part of the theatre of war on July 1st 1916 when the 1st
Battalion of the Regiment of Newfoundland, Canada, fighting for the
Allies, engaged the German Army here. This was the first day of the
Battle of the Somme, and the Canadian battalion's first engagement
in conflict. In an unsuccessful assault lasting little more than
thirty minutes almost all of the soldiers of the 1st Battalion of
the Regiment of Newfoundland were lost in the German
counter-attack.
The original village of Beaumont-Hamel, captured by German
troops as a fortress town, was almost entirely destroyed during
battle.
Today, Beaumont-Hamel has become an unmissable destination on
our battlefield trips for those who
wish to learn about, and pay their respects to, those who fought in
the Great War. Covering thirty hectares, it is the site of the
largest preserved battlefield of the Somme, at which visitors can
walk between the German trenches and the Allied defensive positions
and see the craters left by the bombs which fell here.
One of only two National Historic Sites of Canada that are
located outside that country, Newfoundland Memorial Park at
Beaumont-Hamel is a profoundly moving and poignant destination.
Standing on a hill overlooking the battlefield, a memorial in the
form of a bronze statue of a caribou - the emblem of the Regiment
of Newfoundland - gazes towards the enemy positions. Three bronze
plaques at the foot of the monument bear the names of the Canadian
soldiers who were lost in action and for whom no official grave
exists.
The park also contains a Visitor and Interpretation Centre which
was opened in 2001 and which provides a historical and social
background to Newfoundland's contribution to the First World War
and charts the history of the Newfoundland Regiment from its
establishment in 1914 to the end of the war in 1918. Exhibits
include memorabilia, photographs and video films and the visitor
centre also houses the Newfoundland Book of Remembrance and a
bronze plaque which details the Battle Honours awarded to the men
of the Newfoundland Regiment.