Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial interactive map
Map legend
- 1. Main entrance
- 2. Historic site plaque
- 3. Visitors Centre
- 4. St. John's Road trench
- 5. 29th Division Memorial
- 6. Newfoundland Regiment Memorial
- 7. Main British front line
- 8. Preserved battleground
- 9. Danger Tree
- 10. Y Ravine Cemetery
- 11. German front line and Y Ravine
- 12. 51st (Highland) Division Monument
- 13. Hunter's Cemetery
- 14. Hawthorn Ridge Cemetery No.2
Additional information
Welcome to the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial. This 30-hectare site forever preserves the battlefield where soldiers of the Newfoundland Regiment fought and died in the Battle of the Somme. The powerful memorial has come to commemorate the sacrifices and achievements of all Newfoundlanders who served in the First World War.
Please select a point of interest:
1. Main entrance
The Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial is one of the largest pieces of preserved First World War battlefield terrain from the Western Front.
Visitors to the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial are greeted by the flags of France, Canada, and Newfoundland and Labrador flying over the now-peaceful countryside.
Photo: Captain Reverend Thomas Nangle, Catholic padre (between 1916 and 1919)
Source: The Rooms Provincial Archives Division (F 15-6)
The site of the memorial was purchased after the war by the government of Newfoundland. The Royal Newfoundland Regiment’s chaplain, Lieutenant-Colonel Tom Nangle, played a major role in negotiating with the local farmers who owned the land there. The funds were largely raised by the women of Newfoundland.
2. Historic site plaque
Since Newfoundland and Labrador became a part of Canada in 1949, the Canadian Government has been responsible for the maintenance and care of this site.
The entire 30-hectare site is a solemn memorial as the bodies of many who lost their lives here during the First World War were never recovered.
Beaumont-Hamel became a National Historic Site of Canada in 1997.
Beaumont-Hamel, Newfoundlanders and the Great War
Beaumont-Hamel symbolizes the service and sacrifice of Newfoundlanders during the First World War. This park pays special tribute to the role of the Newfoundland Regiment in the Battle of the Somme and the heavy losses it suffered. The park also stands as a memorial to those Newfoundlanders who fell in battle and who have no known grave.
Introduction paragraph found on the historic site plaque.
Memorial plaque found at the entrance.
3. Visitors centre
The Visitors Centre officially opened on July 1, 2001. It has displays, memorabilia and video vignettes about Newfoundland at the beginning of the 20th century and the Newfoundlanders who served during the First World War.
A focal point of the Memorial Room in the Visitors Centre is a commemorative stained glass window, unveiled in 2003. This beautiful work of art was a gift from the Honourable Fabian O’Dea, a former honorary colonel of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment.
This window was designed by Newfoundland artist Peter Breckon. The colours and the shapes evoke the rolling waves of the waters of their home that the Newfoundland soldiers had left behind.
Pieces of red glass and white crosses can also be found in the window, serving as a symbolic reminder of the sacrifices made.
The Memorial Room displays a copy of the Newfoundland Book of Remembrance. The names inscribed within the Book can also be found in the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
The Newfoundland Book of Remembrance records the names of the fallen who died during military service prior to Newfoundland becoming a part of Canada in 1949. The original is exhibited alongside other special Books of Remembrance in the Memorial Chamber in the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
4. St. John’s road trench
On the morning of July 1, 1916, soldiers of the Newfoundland Regiment were in the reserve trench they had nicknamed "St. John's Road" (after Newfoundland's capital city). They were awaiting orders to go over the top as part of a third wave of attack.
5. 29th Division Memorial
The memorial to the 29th British Division, with which the Newfoundland Regiment served, is on a mound near the Visitor Centre.
The division went into action near Beaumont-Hamel on the first day of the Battle of the Somme on July 1, 1916 and suffered very high casualties.
The red triangle was the symbol of the 29th British Division.
Photo: Lieutenant-General Beauvoir De Lisle
Source: Public Domain
The memorial was unveiled on June 7, 1925, by Lieutenant-General Beauvoir De Lisle who was the 29th British Division's commander during the Battle of the Somme.
Men representing each wartime unit of the division formed an honour guard for this occasion.
Near the 29th Division Memorial there is a large stone with a poem reminding visitors to behave respectfully.
6. Newfoundland Regiment Memorial
The Newfoundland Regiment Memorial stands high on a mound, surrounded by rocks and shrubs native to the island of Newfoundland. It is situated close to where the soldiers began their advance on July 1, 1916.
The caribou was chosen because it is the regiment’s emblem and is depicted on their cap badge.
The caribou defiantly faces in the direction of the former enemy, overlooking the trenches and ground across which the Newfoundlanders advanced.
At the base of the memorial are three bronze plaques. They are inscribed with the names of the 820 members of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, the Newfoundland Royal Naval Reserve and the Merchant Navy who gave their lives in the First World War and then had no known grave.
Photo: Basil Gotto
Source: The Veteran 1.3 (1921): 34. Memorial University's Digital Archives Initiative (DAI)
The caribou memorial itself was designed and sculpted by English artist Captain Basil Gotto, pictured here in 1921.
7. Main British front line
This trench line corresponds to where the main British front line was located on July 1, 1916. It was dug on the forward slope of the ridge by British soldiers after taking over this section of the front from the French in July 1915.
8. Preserved battleground
The still-cratered ground gives an idea of the intensity of the battles that were fought here and how difficult it must have been for the Newfoundland Regiment.
Beaumont-Hamel is one of the few sites in France or Belgium that can give you a glimpse of what Great War battlefield terrain looked like.
Source: Public domain
The Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial preserves the battered battlefield terrain and the old trenches and craters can still be seen.
9. Danger tree
Pictured here is a representation of the so-called ‘Danger Tree’ that was located about halfway between the Allied and German front lines. It was where the enemy fire seemed to grow even more deadly and many of the brave Newfoundland soldiers died near here on July 1, 1916.
The heavy fire reduced the tree to just a sparse trunk and a few branches. The gnarled tree has come to serve as a potent reminder of the great destruction on that day. A reproduction of this symbolic landmark has been preserved at the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial.
10. Y Ravine Cemetery
The Y Ravine Cemetery is located close to the German lines in what was No Man’s Land on the opening day of the Battle of the Somme. Many of the men who were killed on July 1, 1916, are buried here. It is one of three war cemeteries at the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial.
There are now over 400 Allied casualties of the First World War commemorated in this stone-walled cemetery (over a third of whom are unidentified). This includes 38 Newfoundlanders whose headstones are engraved with the caribou, the emblem of their regiment.
In the cemetery, some special memorials have also been erected to 53 British soldiers, sailors and Marines, as well as eight from Newfoundland, who have no known grave but are believed to be buried here.
11. German front line and Y Ravine
The site of the main German front line on the opening day of the battle can be seen here. Dug on a slope that fell away from the British lines, it was protected from direct observation by the opposing side.
The Y Ravine to the north was a strong point for the German line near Beaumont-Hamel. This deep natural feature was fortified and the cover it offered allowed the Germans to bring their troops forward more easily.
Photo: Hawthorne Mine Explosion
Source: © IWM (Q 754)
Behind the Y Ravine on a ridge opposite, you can see trees now growing where a huge bomb was detonated at 7:20 a.m. on July 1, 1916. It consisted of more than 18,000 kilograms of explosives that had been packed in a mine secretly dug under the German lines at Hawthorn Ridge near Beaumont-Hamel.
12. 51st (Highland) Division Monument
The 51st (Highland) Division Monument at Beaumont-Hamel commemorates the soldiers of that unit from Scotland who were killed during the First World War.
Sculpted by George Henry Paulin, it was unveiled on September 28, 1924 by Marshal of France Ferdinand Foch, the former Allied Supreme Commander during the war―a year before the rest of the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial was dedicated.
The pyramidal base of the monument is built of granite blocks from Scotland. Company Sergeant Major Bob Rowan was used as the model for the kilted statue which faces east toward the village of Beaumont-Hamel.
On the front of the memorial is a plaque inscribed in Gaelic: La a’Blair s’math n Cairdean which means “Friends are good on the day of battle.”
13. Hunter's Cemetery
Hunter's Cemetery is a mass burial site in which 46 soldiers of the British 51st (Highland) Division are commemorated. These men died during the fighting at Beaumont-Hamel and were buried together in what had been a large shell hole.
Hunter's Cemetery has a very unique layout. The headstones are arranged into a circular wall, in the middle of which stands a Cross of Sacrifice.
14. Hawthorn Ridge Cemetery No. 2
Photo: Entrance of the Hawthorn Ridge Cemetery No. 2
Source: Wernervc
Hawthorn Ridge Cemetery No. 2 is one of three war cemeteries found on the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial site. Most of those buried here are from units of the British 29th Division, such as the Border Regiment, the South Wales Borderers, the Royal Dublin Fusiliers and the Royal Fusiliers.
The majority of these men lost their lives on July 1, 1916. The cemetery is enclosed on three sides by a low stone wall.
Remembering the Newfoundlanders
Photo: Forget-me-not flowers
Source: Sharon Adams, Legion Magazine
The July 1, 1916 fighting at Beaumont-Hamel took a heavy toll on the Newfoundland Regiment. In a single morning, it had been almost wiped out.
The loss of so many men from every corner of the dominion shook the people of Newfoundland and they looked for ways to remember the loved ones they had lost.
On the first anniversary of the tragic losses at Beaumont-Hamel, the first 'Memorial Day' ceremony took place in downtown St. John's on July 1, 1917.
Today, July 1st is not only Canada Day for Newfoundlanders. It is still Memorial Day, a time for people to gather at war memorials to remember the brave men and women who have served in uniform over the years.
The blue forget-me-not flower has come to be worn on Memorial Day to remember the brave young Newfoundlanders who fought and died.
The Caribou Trail
After the war, the people of Newfoundland built five memorials in France and Belgium on the sites of important battles where the regiment had fought.
All the monuments included a large bronze statue of the caribou, an animal native to Newfoundland and Labrador which is also the regiment’s emblem.
Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial
Gueudecourt Newfoundland Memorial
Monchy-le-Preux Newfoundland Memorial
Masnières Newfoundland Memorial
Courtrai Newfoundland Memorial
In recognition of their exceptional valour and sacrifice in the war, King George V renamed the unit the Royal Newfoundland Regiment in 1917.
Location
The Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial is found in France, some 175 kilometres north of Paris and 200 kilometres southwest of Brussels, Belgium.
The Memorial is about 150 kilometres from the port of Calais, and is located approximately halfway between the cities of Amiens and Arras.
The Memorial is located nine kilometres north of the town of Albert, in the Department of the Somme, and about two kilometres south of the village of Beaumont-Hamel.
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