June 28, 2023 - France
Beaumont - Hamel Newfoundland WWI Memorial

From Sedan, we drove west, following the German 1940 drive to Abbeville and the channel coast.  At Abbeville we turned north and drove to the channel port cities of Boulogne, Calais and finally Dunkirk, our destination for the evening.

Along the way I wanted to see a World War One battlesite where you could still see trench remnants.

This marvelous map displayed at Beaumont - Hamel helps clarify World War One.  For four years, France, Great Britain and Germany slugged it out in the trenches in the relatively small shaded area below.  There are numerous battle sites to go to but which one?  Some trip planning identified a place called the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial -- nine miles north of Albert -- which sounded promising.  It was only a little out of our way so we stopped.  It was an excellent choice.
   

The Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial is a memorial site in France dedicated to the commemoration of Dominion of Newfoundland forces members who were killed during World War I. 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.

When war broke out in August 1914, Newfoundland was a dominion of the British Empire and not yet part of Canada.  Once Britain declared war, Newfoundland, -- like Canada -- was at war.  The people of Newfoundland responded with a great outpouring of patriotism.  From a total population of about 242,000, more than 12,000 Newfoundlanders would serve in uniform.

The Newfoundland Regiment -- a unit of the British Army -- first saw action in the Gallipoli campaign in Turkey.  The regiment was then setn to France's Western Front for the opening day of the Battle of the Somme.

The Battle of the Somme was the regiment's first major engagement.  The 1st Newfoundland Regiment attacked at about 9:15 a.m. near the villages of Beaumont and Hamel.  Unfortunately, the assault lacked the element of surprise.  The initial Allied bombardment had failed to damage most of the German defenses.  In less than half an hour, the Regiment suffered the second highest casualty rate for a battalion on that day.  More than 700 were killed, wounded or missing.  This tragedy touched almost every Newfoundland family.

Purchased in 1921 by the people of Newfoundland, the memorial site 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.

 
   
Officially opened by British Field Marshal Earl Haig in 1925, the memorial 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. The memorial site and experience of the Newfoundland Regiment at Beaumont-Hamel has come to represent the Newfoundland First World War experience.
   

There was a little museum that was well done.  One thing that impressed me were the park rangers who were all young adults from Newfoundland.  They come over here for a period of months to be the park rangers.  They are great representatives of Newfoundland and its fun for them to spend some time in France.

The Visitor Center gave us a good map of the site, pictured here.  Numbers five and seven are the British trenches.  Number nine is the German trenches.
   
The regiment, which the Dominion government had chosen to raise, equip, and train at its own expense, was resupplied and went on to serve with distinction in several subsequent battles, earning the prefix "Royal". The overall fatality and casualty rate for the regiment was high: 1,281 dead, 2,284 wounded.
 
This is what is left of the trenches, 107 years after the Battle of the Somme.  It was known as the St. John's Road Trench and was a reserve trench named after the capital city of Newfoundland.
   
 
   
In the distance, standing on a rock hill, is a great bronze caribou -- the emblem of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment.  "It watches over the rolling fields where many fell and have no known final resting place."
   
A memorial to the 1st Newfoundland Regiment.  There are 821 names inscribed on three bronze tablets at the base of the monument in memory of Newfoundlanders who died during WWI with no known grave.
   
 
   

A memorial to the British 29th Division.  Known as the Incomparable Division, the 29th was an infantry division of the British Army, formed in early 1915 by combining various Regular Army units that had been acting as garrisons around the British Empire. Under the command of Major-General Aylmer Hunter-Weston, the division fought throughout the Gallipoli Campaign, including the original landing at Cape Helles. From 1916 to the end of the war the division fought on the Western Front in Belgium and France.

According to the published divisional history, 'The total casualties of the 29th Division amounted to something like 94,000. Gallipoli alone accounted for 34,000. This must be, if not a record, among the highest totals in any division.  The number of Victoria Crosses won by members of this division was 27 (12 at Gallipoli). This constitutes a record'.

The Newfoundland Regiment served most of the First World War as part of the 29th Division's 88th Brigade.
   
 
   
Lynnette walking in the trenches.
   
 
   
This was the British front line.
   
 
   
Artifacts from World War One:  metal rods used to hold up the barbed wire.
   
Located halfway across No Man's Land was the Danger Tree.  The German fire was particularly heavy here and it is the site of a high concentration of Newfoundland casualties.  After the battle, the tree's broken and twisted remains emerged as an important symbol of the scope of devastation the fighting caused.  Today, a replica of the original tree stands in its place.
   
The Wellington Trench, pictured here, was built in late July, its position further forward in No Man's Land.
   
The Y Ravine Cemetery.
   
Sad.
   
Now looking at what's left of the German trenches, called the Y Ravine.
   
When Allied forces advanced on July 1, Germany's Wurttemberg 26th Division had occupied its position here for 18 months.
   
They still find unexploded ordnance from World War One.
   
Unveiled in 1924, the 51st (Highland) Division monumnet recognizes the Division's capture of the Y Ravine and of both villages -- Beaumont and Hamel -- during November 1916's Battle of the Ancre.  This battle was the last great offensive of the Battle of the Somme.
   
A Highlander soldier.
   
The caption in French means "friends are good on the day of battle."
   
Fierce lion.
   
More German trenches at Y Ravine.
   
Hunters Cemetery
   
Hawthorn Ridge Cemetery No. 2.
   
A quiet and solemn place 107 years later.
   
 
   

Lucky Lynnette finds a four-leaf clover!
 
Can you believe I have never found one myself.  I don't think I've ever even seen one before.  So now I have.
 
   
Walking back to the parking lot.
   
Passing a flock of sheep on our way back to the car.
   
 
   
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