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| Barbed Wire on the Battlefield at Beaumont-Hamel |
The Battle of the Somme is arguably the most infamous battle of the First World War. Considered as perhaps the definitive battle of the war, the images of mud and death are some of the most powerful in recalling the horror and futility of the conflict.
On the first day alone, the British Army reported 57,000
casualties, still the deadliest day in its history. By the battles end some 141 days later, over
3 million men would have fought along the 25-mile front. Over a million would be killed or wounded for
an Allied advance of a mere 7 miles into German territory.
There are many museums and memorials along the Western
Front. The multitude of cemeteries, are
a stark reminder of the human cost of the war.
One particular memorial, at Beaumont-Hamel, just north of the town of
Albert, tells the story of the Newfoundland Regiment and their tragic
contribution on that sunny summers Saturday morning of July 1st
1916.
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| Newfoundland Memorial Beaumont-Hamel |
Newfoundland in 1914 was a Dominion of the British Empire
and not yet part of Canada. The
population was rural and numbered just 240,000. The largest settlement as it is
today was St. Johns with just 32,000 inhabitants. Nevertheless, showing the same sort of
enthusiasm as found across the British Empire, the Newfoundland Regiment was
formed shortly after the outbreak of war.
After training in Britain, the 1000 troops were posted to support the Gallipoli
campaign. Then following a period of
leave they were posted to The Somme.
The battle itself began at 6am with a prolonged artillery
barrage which continued for an hour. At
7:20am a mine was detonated beneath the German defensive position on Hawthorn
Ridge, just to the west of Beaumont-Hamel, creating a 40-metre-wide
crater. Ten minutes later at 7:30am the
troops went over the top. The 10-minute
delay had given the German defenders time to prepare for the advancing troops,
and their advance faced a fierce barrage of machine gun and artillery fire.
Due to confusion, Allied commanders believed the advance had
been successful and ordered reinforcements to push forward. The Newfoundlands were given the order to
advance at 8:45am.
Finding it impossible to advance along the communication
trenches due to the number of wounded men, the order was given to advance on
the surface. German guns cut most of
them down before they had even reached the front-line trench.
Survivors tried to push on.
The initial allied artillery barrage had destroyed any cover for the
advancing men, save for a petrified Apple Tree, later to be christened “The
Danger Tree.” As men made to use the
meagre cover, they were easy targets for the German gunners and many died
beneath its branches. Those that made it
further were to find the German positions heavily fortified, and would perish
in the barbed wire defences.
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| The Danger Tree |
By 9:45 the attack was abandoned, and the few survivors made their way back to the Allied front line. One man, Private James McGrath, spent 17 hours in No Man’s Land before managing to make it back to the safety of the allied trenches. Badly wounded he had crawled a mile across the battlefield. In an interview by the Newfoundland Quarterly he recalled that “The Germans mowed us down like sheep.”
He was one of the lucky ones. The Newfoundland Regiment had gone into
battle that morning with 780 men. In
just an hour 670 were killed or wounded.
At roll call the next morning only 68 men answered. The regiment had been effectively wiped out,
suffering a casualty rate in excess of 85%.
Indeed, only the 10th Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment
suffered greater losses in their attack at Fricourt, just to the south of
Beaumont-Hamel.
In the aftermath, Beaumont-Hamel became a quiet part of the
front. Commanders had realised that the
German positions here were too well fortified to be attacked successfully.
In 1921 the battlefield was purchased by the government of
Newfoundland in order to build a permanent memorial to the fallen. In 1925 the Newfoundland Memorial Park was
opened by Field Marshall Earl Haig.
Since the confederation of Newfoundland with Canada in 1949 the site is
maintained by the Canadian Government.
The centrepiece of the memorial park is a Bronze Caribou
statue that looks across the battlefield.
It stands on a mound of Newfoundland Granite, imported specifically for
the memorial. Additionally, there are
three cemeteries inside the park, containing the bodies of 700 of the
fallen. There is also a memorial to the
51st Highland Division that fought here in the later years of the
war.
The park also contains the preserved remains of the Allied
and German trenches, and a reproduction “Danger Tree” in No Mans Land. It is possible to walk across the battlefield
and remember those men who lost their lives during the battle. Perhaps the most haunting experience is to
stand in the German trenches looking back towards the Allied front line. From here it is possible to imagine how
easily the Germans were able to inflict such devastating losses on the
advancing troops. There is a clear view
across No Man’s Land, and as you watch other visitors emerge from the Allied
trenches, they are easy targets for the machine guns that defended the
position.
The visitors centre contains displays describing the history
of the Newfoundland Regiment and their role in the Battle of the Somme. From here it is possible to arrange a guided
tour of the park. These are provided by
Canadian students that spend a year in France as part of their studies.
Restricted opening hours apply only to the Visitor Centre as follows:
Open Mondays 11.00 - 17.00 hours; Tuesday - Sunday 09.00 - 17.00 hours
For information or reservations for guided tours contact:
Address: Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial, Rue de l'Église (route D73), 80300 Beaumont-Hamel, France
Telephone: +33 (0)3 22 76 70 86
Email: beaumonthamel.memorial@vac-acc.gc.ca
Website: www.veterans.gc.ca Beaumont Hamel
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