The Battle of the Somme was one of the largest battles of WWI and one of the bloodiest in human history. It began on 1st July 1916 and dragged on for almost five months, ending when Commander-in-Chief Sir Douglas Haig called off the offensive in November. Over the 141 day battle, casualties were more than one million with over 300,000 deaths. The British had advanced a paltry five miles!
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| Marker at Beaumont Hamel |
No Canadian infantry units participated in the attack on 1st July. (Newfoundland was not part of Canada until 1949!) The 1st Newfoundland Regiment, attached to a British division, was there. On that morning the Newfoundland Regiment was cut down by German machine-gun fire as it attacked over open ground. Pte Cameron of the King’s Own Scottish Borderers witnessed the battle. He wrote, “On came the Newfoundlanders, a great body of men, but the fire intensified and they were wiped out in front of my eyes.”
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| Plaque in the Museum at Ypres |
After the Battle of 1st July, Commander-in-Chief of the British Forces, Sir Douglas Haig, wrote to the Newfoundland Government “I should like you to let my fellow citizens of the Empire in the oldest overseas portion of the British Realm know how well their lads have done, both Non-Commissioned Officers and Men, and how proud I, as their Corps Commander, am to have had such a Battalion under my command, and to be a comrade in arms of each and all of them. Newfoundlanders, I salute you! You are Better than the Best"
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| In the Museum at Ypres |
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| Newfoundland Memorial Park, Beaumont Hamel, France |
The first Memorial Day ceremony took place in downtown St John’s one year after the battle. For many years 1st July was an official day of Remembrance in Newfoundland but now Memorial Day is very largely overshadowed by the celebration of Canada Day (more’s the pity!).
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| War Memorial, St John's |
https://youtu.be/J_wzVUaKLi0
They won us the right to sing it!