Virtual tour of BH

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Since I am now done work at Beaumont-Hamel and waiting for my Dad to arrive to Arras, I have decided to make a bit of a different blog this week. I have decided to write my tour, complete with pictures for my stops, so that those of you who might not have the chance to actually get to BH in person will have an idea of what happened here. Read the tour, follow visually with the associated pictures and if you have any questions at all, please write me (comment on the blog, or email, or fb, whatever suits you!). WARNING: This is a -super- long blog; so grab some coffee and try to bear with me!

So here is how a typical tour, usually lasting anywhere between 45 minutes to an hour and a half, would go at Beaumont-Hamel.

Hello, my name is Karine and I'll be your guide today...

I'd like to welcome you (virtually) to Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial. This site, located in the Somme region, was purchased by the Newfoundland government in 1922 so that it could be preserved. Today, Canada holds (with this site and Vimy Ridge) about 80%!o(MISSING)f all preserved World War 1 battlefield. That is something we should all be proud of. In case you are wondering what I am doing here (for those of you who still don't know why I am blogging from France), I am part of a Student Guide Program with the Canadian federal government. What that means is that I am one of 14 guides currently working here at Beaumont-Hamel, or our other Canadian First World War site, Vimy Ridge. We are all students, working in France for 4 months, therefore from mid-August to mid-December.

(Stop 1) Today, I will be telling you the story of the Newfoundlanders who were here fighting on this site in 1916. That said, it is important to remember during the tour that we are on a real battlefield, with authentic trenches and shell holes. Men fought and died here so please keep this in mind as we follow in the footsteps of the men who were here 95 years ago.

The way I prefer to structure my tour is by starting with the bigger picture, (why there was fighting here) followed by a focus on the Newfoundlanders' story. Please keep in mind that though we are talking about that particular regiment, this story is one that can be repeated for so many other regiments who fought here on the same day.

(Stop 2) Before we get into the details of what would happen to those Newfoundlanders, know that we are talking about events that would take place during the Battle of the Somme. We are actually focusing on the very first day, which was July 1st, 1916. If you have trouble remembering dates, let me give you a trick for this one. July 1st, 1916 is the middle day of the middle year of World War 1...I promise you it's true, it works. And now, you will always remember that very important day. The Battle of the Somme was planned as of the end of 1915, originally as a mainly French army offence, in which the British Army was meant to only serve as support. This was because the French were a larger army, more capable of leading this attack, that was often nicknamed the "Big Push"; the attack that would break the German line and in turn end the war. Now today, we of course know this was not to be the case. Nevertheless, the attack was planned but in early 1916 the role of leading army was given to the British. Why? Well, with the unexpected German offense on the French positions at Verdun (south of the Somme), the French could not afford to lead the attack at the Somme. In order to relieve the pressure felt at Verdun, the British decided to attack here at the Somme.

Now today, we stand here in front of the 29th Division monument, as this British division was present on this site, holding about 1 km of the total 25 km front that was the Somme. To give you an idea how the British force worked...the 29th Division was part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), and it split into 3 different brigades: the 86th, 87th and 88th Brigades. Each brigade is made up of several regiments. The Newfoundland Regiment we will talk about today is part of the 88th brigade. The red triangle we see on the monument is a divisional emblem, meaning it is worn by any soldier fighting with the 29th Division, on their shoulder patches.

Now, about Newfoundland. I'm sure you are aware that today, we consider Newfoundland as a Canadian province located on the east coast of Canada. But did you know that in 1914, when the war was declared, Newfoundland was not a part of Canada? It actually only joined in 1949, making it our most recent provincial addition. Meaning that during World War 1, they were, just like Canada, a Dominion part of the British Empire, but seperate from Canada.

This means that they were automatically entered into the war and given the choice of how many men they would send over to fight. Now their population in 1914 was quite small. If we compare it to England today (seeing as they have a similar size) who counts over 60 million people as it's population; where as Newfoundland in 1914 had 242 000 people only. Still, with this tiny number, they managed to send over 6000 men to fight. Keep in mind that in order to be a soldier, you must be a man, of the proper age (about 18-35) and in good health. That the island managed to send that many men was an enormous contribution, especially if you consider that they all enrolled by choice.

For the purpose of the story of the men here, we will be talking of about 800 men who would be present from the Newfoundland Regiment and who would participate in the attack.

From here, I will bring you closer to where the Newfoundlanders' trench was located for the July 1st attack.

(Stop 3) We are currently between the Newfoundlanders' trench (St John's Road Trench) and the British Front Lines. That means that the Newfoundlanders were not at the front of the battlefield, but rather in the support trenches with their 88th Brigade. They got to their position about 4 months prior to the attack, giving them time to dig their trench and practive the advance. They did not live in trenches for all this time. In order to keep up morale and hygiene, they would spend a week here, then a week in camps about 14 km away. They also spent about 3 weeks practicing the course of the attack on grounds that were similar to the battlefield. So as you can imagine, they were quite confident and ready for what was meant to happen on July 1st. However, the plan and the actual action would be very different, making all their preparations almost useless.

Now this original plan was to have the attack on June 29th, 2 days earlier than the actual advance. Why was it pushed back? For 2 reasons: firstly, weather. The weather of June 29th was rainy giving the men and the artillery bad visibily. In comparison, July 1st was a nice sunny day, about 23 celcius and clear skies. That meant that we could clearly see, but unfortunately clearly be seen. The second reason for the chnage of dates was the bombardement. For 5 days prior to June 29th, we had been bombarding the Germans' barbed wire and First Lines of defense, in attempts to reduce their morale and defences. We then send out a few raiding parties, only to find out that we had not been as succesful as we'd hoped. Therefore, we pushed the attack to July 1st, giving us 2 extra days to bombared. But as you can imagine, we were now streching 5 days of ressources to 7 days, and so the last 2 days of bombardment were not sufficiently strong. Also, although we had been in position for 4 months, the Germans had been in theirs for 18 months, giving them plenty of time to fortify their positions. We would later find out that although morale was reduced on their side, they were hiding underground in tunnels and dugouts, quite safe from our shells.

Now that the date was set, the plan of attack was to have 2 groups advance. The first would lead the attack at 07:30 (zero hour) and their goal would be to capture the Germans' First Line of defense. The Newfoundlanders were part of the second group, leaving around 08:45, with a goal to capture the Germans' Second Line of defense (this one was 2 km away from our start point).

Now as I've mentionned before, this original plan was not at all what would take place on July 1st. Two important changes would be made to the Newfoundlanders' plan. The first being their goal; when around 09:00 they got their call to go out, they were told they were no longer going for the Germans' Second Line but rather for their First, because it had not yet been captured by the first group to attack. The second change was the way they were meant to get closer to the British Front Line to attack. The original plan would have them used "communication trenches" (a trench perpendicular to the defense trenches, that links the first lines to the support lines, allowing the transport of munitions or men). Those would offer the men some protection from shells and machine guns so that they could advance closer to the Front and jump off from there. However, they could no longer use these. Already, by 09:00, these communication trenches were clogged with bodies, from the casualties from the first group to attack.

The Newfoundlanders were instead told to go "over the top" of their trenches and advance. Because of the terrain, they had a few metres of protection from German machine guns and riffles, but not their shells. Past a small crest in the ground near the British's First Lines, and due to the sunny weather of the day, their bodies became silhouettes on the battlefield, completely visible and great targets. Keep in mind, there were only 800 men advancing at once. The other regiment (Essex Regiment) meant to advance alongside them, had received different orders. They'd been told to clear their communcation trenches (that took them them about 2 hours) and advance afterwards. By the time that regiment had reached the First Lines around 10:50, the attack had been called off, cancelled. The Newfoundlanders were indeed advancing alone.

Before we go further on the site, I'd like to give you a few more figures...numbers that might clarify for you why this site is still so important after 95 years have passed.

In the about 30 minutes that the Newfoundlanders were part of the July 1st advance, their casualty rate (number of men either killed, wounded or missing) reached 86%.

That means that out of the approximately 800 men to advance, 684 of them fell either dead or wounded. 310 killed. 374 wounded (19 men would later die from their wounds).

When you consider the small population in Newfoundland at the time, you can imagine the enormous impact this had on the morale at home. No one was left unaffected by these events. On our site today, we have an estimated 80 to 90 bodies that remain; that have never been found or recovered. It is for these men and their faimilies that we ask for your respect.

As we leave this spot, we are following in their footsteps, getting closer to the Front Lines. Know that the trees present on site today would not have been here during the July 1st attack. They were all planted after the First World War and are all species native to Newfoundland or to Canada. We like to think that for those 80 to 90 men who never were never found, we have at least given them a piece of home by having these trees here.

(Stop 4) The animal at the top of our monument here is a caribou. An animal similar to a dear or a moose, it is again native to Newfoundland and Canada. It was chosen as a symbol for the Newfoundland Regiment. There are in total 6 caribou monuments, set in places important to the Regiment; ours, 3 more in France, 1 in Belgium and 1 in St John's, Newfoundland. That is a good way to remember that although the Regiment suffered so many losses here at Beaumont-Hamel, they did not quit. They did not stop fighting. They kept on and were back in action as early as October 1916. They had a reputation as perserverent and loyal men.

(Stop 5) We are now in front of our Memorial. Our site had a double significance; not only are we here to commemorate the men who fought and died here on July 1st, we are also here for all the men of the Regiment who's bodies were never found. You have here 821 names of those missing and unknown soldiers. Those 80-90 men who remain on our site today are identified only here on the Memorial.

As you can imagine, this also represents 821 families who have no where else to go but here to remember their lost sons, fathers, brothers. As you know, not being from Newfoundland, I do not have a family connection to this monument. But since arriving here in August and hearing the story of one of the men, I have found myself feeling like I am related to him. Not because of family, but because of age. This soldier, is Edward William Kendell (sometimes written Kendall) (Stop 6). I am the youngest guide working this session, and so when I heard of Kendell, the youngest boy on the Memorial, he immediatly took a special place in my heart. The difference between myself (19 years old) and Kendell however, is that he was 14 years old. He would have lied about his age in order to enroll. In addition, he would have done so after finding out about the happenings at Beaumont-Hamel, since he enrolled at the end of the month of July, 1916. Why he did so, is a question I have yet to find an answer to. There are several possibilities; money, patriotism, sense of adventure...still, there is no way a 14-year-old could have known what he was getting into. Kendell died in October 1917 and his body was never found. There are 3 16-year-olds on the monument with similar stories to his.

Their are also quite a few names that are repeated on the monument, often these are men of the same families (Stop 7). In the case of the Abbotts, G. and S. were brothers. George and Stanley were 22 and 21 years old. They enrolled and fought together and have interesting records. They both were caught either drunk on duty, late on parol, etc. It is quite evident to me that they were simply being 20-year-olds. The Abbotts also are special to us, because they are the only set of brothers who not only were Killed in Action here at Beaumont-Hamel, but neither of their bodies were found. They had 3 younger siblings and their parents at home.

From here, I will bring you to the top of the caribou monument, where we get a great overview of the entire battlefield (Stop 8). Keep in mind that what you see is something no soldier would've had the chance to see before the attack. In 1916, privates were not given maps, coordinates or much indication as to what awaited them in battle. It was decided it was too risky, in case a soldier was captured and might give intelligence to the German army. By 1917 (at Vimy for example) soldiers even at the private rank, would be given coordinates and aerial views so that if the commander was lost, they could still advance. What you see in this view is the First British Line of defense for July 1st. The tree line running behind the cemetery is essentially the Germans' First Line of defense (the Newfoundlanders' new goal for July 1st). However, their original goal, the Germans' Second Line of defense, is equvalent to the power lines in the horizon. In reality, the Regiment would never make it to either of those lines. They would, instead, make it as far as "the Danger Tree", a small tree trunk, without leaves or branches, at the level of the visitors walking on the path in the picture. It is essentially mid-way through no-man's-land (the space between the forces' front lines).

We will now walk over to the Danger Tree, so that you have a better view of it. This walk would take us today about 5 minutes. However, on July 1st, it would take the men 30 minutes to make it here and only about 100 would be left unhurt by this walk.

To get there, we will walk through a trench (Stop 9). This one is part of the British's First Lines, but as it is not the very first one, it has a tricky name "second of the first lines of defense". It is located right behind the very first that was visible on the previous picture. (Stop 10) As you can see, the trench as it looks today is quite different from its appearance in 1916. Yes, it is the original, but with 95 years, nature has taken its course and it is therefore much shallower than they used to be. They would have been about 8-9 feet (3m) in depth. The nice grass would be replaced with mud, water, rats the size of cats, soldiers and in some cases, dead bodies. The bottom of the trench would not have the wooden board we have today, but rather more mud or "duckboards" (essentially ladders, put sideways, where when walking on the steps, you get a few inches off the mud). The walls would also have been steeper, making the base of the trench wider, the top narrower. The shape of the trench is also interesting. Notice it is not straight, as Hollywood shows us, but rather zig-zagged. This is because if an enemy were to come in your trench and it was straight, he could shoot further and hit more men. With these curves, the corners offer good protection against this treath and also the effect of shrapnel bombs being thrown in. This said, you are never ever safe in a trench.

Keep in mind that although this trench ressembles that used by the Newfoundlanders, they did not use this particular one. They would, however, have had to cross it during the advance. Prior to the attack, the men from their division in this trench would have built bridges along the top so that on July 1st, the Newfoundlanders didn't need to waste time and effort jumping in and out of the First Lines. The bridges would have to be camouflaged so that the Germans would not know the extent of our planning.


As we keep making our way towards Danger Tree (Stop 11), we will be crossing the very First Line of defense on July 1st. You'll see (Stop 12) metal spikes in it. They are not original; we did not have the ressources to put metal in trenches in 1916. These were added in the 60s so that the trench walls would not collapse. The corkscrew pickets (Stop 13) in no man's land are however the originals. These were used to wrap barbed wire. They were screwed in the ground, instead of hammered in, which made them more silent.



We have now reached, in my opinion, the most sombre spot on our site (Stop 14). We are now in front of Danger Tree. As I mentionned, this spot, half way through no man's land, is the furthest any Newfoundlander would manage to get on July 1st. It is known as Danger Tree, since it was one of the most dangerous spots on the battlefield that day and a place were many bodies would be found afterwards.



What I like to talk about from here is the reason why the casualty rate, that 86%!,(MISSING) would be so high. Several problems and bad decisions occured that day. The first actually would take place 10 minutes before the attack even started, at 07:20. An order was given to blow up the "Hawthorn Redoubt" (today known as the Hawthorn mine crater) a strong German position. (It is not on our site, but just behind it) By exploding this crater between the two front lines, the British were hoping to have the time to send men out to capture the crater's ridges and gain better positions against the Germans in that portion of the Front, for the attack at 07:30. Unfortunately, this tactic was counting strongly on the element of surprise, that we did not have. We even removed the shelling from that line, sending it further so that our British men would not be hit by our shells. At 07:20, the Germans we ready to counter-attack and now had no shells against them. For the Newfoundlanders, this meant that by 09:00 when they advanced, the counter-attack was much stronger than anticipated.



Many soldiers from the Regiment were sent out with about 70 pounds (30 kilos) of equipment on their backs. They carried with them shovels, bombs, pick axes, ladders...anything that could be of use when they got to the German positions. There would be no time wasted returning to their own trench, to gather equipment before going back to the German lines to occupy. They could capture and stay there. However, since they never made it as far as the German positions, all the equipement did was slow them down. Especially since they had 5 machine guns pointed at them, positions in such a way as to create a "curtain" of bullets in their direction (meaning there was no where to go to avoid them).



In addition to this, each soldier was given a tin triangle to put on their backs, between their shoulders. These triangles would be used for air reconnaissance during the attack (so that a British airplane could fly over, spot the soldiers and instruct the artillery, so as to avoid shelling our own). Now the problem with these triangles, is that as soon as any Newfoundlander turned around, either to find protection in a shell hole behind them or to return to their trenches, as soon as his backed was to the Germans, the triangle reflected the sun, making that soldier a perfectly visible target on the battlefield.



The final problem I will mention for the July 1st attack was the barbed-wire. The Germans' barbed-wire should have all been destroyed by the 7 days of bombardement. This wasn't the case, but that is not the problem I'd like to discuss for the Newfoundlander. Because the issue for them was actually the British barbed-wire that they had to get through. Prior to the attack, men would be sent out in parties to cut a few passages in the barbed-wire, that men would follow out. They'd be in similar shapes as trenches, zig-zags. The entrances would be marked with bleached rocks. But when the Newfoundlanders were sent out to use these passages, they were not the first group to go through them that day. That meant that the Germans had already pin pointed the exits and were aiming at them. When the Regiment tried to get out of the barbed-wire many were shot and the bodies started piling up, blocking access, much like had happened in the communication trenches I mentionned earlier.



The men who did manage to make it our of the British wire decided they needed to find somewhere to gather, having lost almost all their officers. This tree here had been used as a point of grouping during the previous days' raids and so was a familiar place to meet on July 1st. But as you can imagine, it being essentially the only thing in no man's land, it was a very visible target and the Newfoundlanders would not succeed in getting further than it.



Now that you know the reasons for the failure of this attack, I'd like to mention one thing. They said hindsight is 20/20, and I believe it is extremely important to keep this in mind. This happened 95 years ago, in a time when communication was quite different than what we know today. Often those making decisions did not received clear messages and they misinterpreted them. The Battle of the Somme was one of the first big battles planned during World War 1, and many lessons would be learnt from it.



Before I let you get on with your day and if you are still with me at this point, I'd like to conclude by telling you that the Newfoundland Regiment still proudly exists today. However, their name is a bit different than the one I've been using since the beginning. Today (and since 1918) they are known as the Royal Newfoundland Regiment (RNR). That is because before the end of the First World War, in 1918, they were recognized for their perseverance by getting the title of "Royal" added to their name. That nickname they had been given, "Better than the best" was validated. They are the only British Army Regiment to have received this title during World War 1; the 3rd to have received it during a time of war. Quite an honour for the boys.



The RNR was exempt from World War 2 fighting, because as you can imagine, the impact of the losses from WW1 hit the economy hard. Newfoundland had lost a whole generation of men. Because of this, they have suffered their very first casualty since World War 1 about 1 year and half ago.



I have one last thing to make you think about. As a Canadian (if you are Canadian and reading this, you will agree with me I'm sure), July 1st has always been, for me, a day of celebration. It is, of course, Canada Day. A day where we gather proudly in red and white on Parliament Hill for concerts and fireworks. However, in Newfoundland, July 1st is known as Memorial Day; a day of mourning and remembering the men who fell here at Beaumont-Hamel. Since 1949, with Newfoundland joining Canada, they have started joining in the celebration on July 1st, but only after spending the first few hours of that day in commemoration.

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I hope that this virtual tour of Beaumont-Hamel has helped you understand why I have told many of you that I wish to return and work here again. And why my sense of Canadian pride has grown. And why I consider myself now an "honorary Newfoundlander". This site truly is special and sacred. Incredibly peaceful and quiet today, it is hard for us to imagine what these men would have lived through. Still, we try everyday to explain to visitors, (more often than not, to children) the ultimate sacrifices these men made. I hope that next Canada Day, you will take a minute and thank the Newfoundlanders who fought for us at Beaumont-Hamel.

I leave you with a quote, from a man known as Private Frank Thomas "Mayo" Lind. An unofficial corresponder for the Regiment, he wrote letters home to the newspaper so that the people would get first hand news from the front. In one of his letters, he writes of the bad quality of the tobacco in Europe, wishing he had "Mayo" tobacco (a Newfoundland brand) for him and the boys. The people (mostly women) of Newfoundland fundraised and sent over 2 tonnes of tobacco for the Regiment. He was nicknamed "Mayo" Lind afterwards. Private "Mayo" Lind wrote his last letter on June 29th, 2 days before the attack at Beaumont-Hamel. He was killed near the Danger Tree on July 1st, 1916. His body lies in one of our site's cemeteries, the "Y-Ravine Cemetery".

Here is my favorite quote from "Mayo" Lind: "A brave story never dies with age".

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