ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO TODAY

Distance Marker on Monument at
Newfoundland Memorial Park, Beaumont Hamel

Pte E J Murphy

During WWI, the Newfoundland Regiment served bravely and with distinction in Turkey, Egypt, France, Belgium, Greece, Germany and Great Britain.   Despite its many courageous battles, it is Beaumont Hamel and the first day of the Battle of the Somme that was the most devastating for the Regiment and for Newfoundland.   

Pte F P Woodford

The Battle of the Somme lasted an horrific 141 days, from July to November 1916.  The Somme offensive, which began one hundred years ago today, on 1^st July 1916, was a terrible failure.  By the time it ended in November, about 400,000 lives had been lost and the Allies had succeeded in moving the front line just 10 kilometres or about 6 miles.

Lieut R Shortall

As they left their trenches on July 1st, the Allied Forces were mowed down by a barrage of enemy fire.  Of the approximately 800 Newfoundlanders who went into battle on the morning of July 1st, only 68 answered roll call the next day.  More than 700 were dead, wounded or missing.  It has been said that, as they walked into the hell of No Man’s Land that morning, the Newfoundlanders tucked their chins in, as if they were walking into the teeth of a blizzard back home in Newfoundland, and marched on!  The courage of the Newfoundlanders did

Pte J Breen

not go unnoticed on the front lines.  The Divisional Commander, Major General Beauvoir de Lisle, said of their sacrifice, “It was a magnificent display of trained and disciplined valour, and its assault only failed of success because dead men can advance no further.”  

 

Plaque from St Patrick's Convent School, 
Deanery Ave & portrait of Padre Nangle

Pte M F Kennedy

Among those who died that July 1^st, or from wounds sustained that day, were many young men of St Patrick’s Parish.  In 1921, a new St Patrick’s Convent School opened on Deanery Avenue.  This School was erected as a memorial to the men and boys of St Patrick’s Parish who paid the supreme sacrifice in World War I.  The school has long gone but, thanks to Fr Wayne Dohey, the plaque which once adorned the front entrance of the school has been preserved.  Alongside a portrait of WWI Chaplain, Padre Thomas Nangle, it is proudly displayed on the wall of St Patrick’s Church.  Thank you, Fr Dohey, for saving this important part of our School and Parish History.

Pte F J Galgay

We have the names of some of our gallant parishioners but if you know of one who lost his life as a consequence of the Battle of July 1^st 1916, please send the information to us at mcallistersmith@gmail.com and we will gladly add it to this post. 

Forget-Me-Nots

We remember and pay grateful tribute to all who gave their lives in WWI but we pay special tribute to these members of St Patrick’s Parish:

PTE JOHN BREEN, AGE

PTE LEO MICHAEL BURKE, AGE 18

PTE JOHN JOSEPH CAREW, AGE 26

PTE LAURENCE JOSEPH CORCORAN, AGE 33

PTE FRANCIS JOSEPH GALGAY, AGE 19

PTE JOSEPH HOLLAHAN, AGE 26

PTE BERT JACKMAN, AGE 27

SGT MICHAEL FRANCIS KELLY, AGE 26

PTE MICHAEL FRANCIS KENNEDY, AGE 22

PTE RICHARD JOSEPH MADDIGAN, AGE 19

PTE JOSEPH MARTRET, AGE 20

PTE THOMAS MELEE, AGE 19

PTE EDWARD JOSEPH MURPHY, AGE 24

CPL WILLIAM JOSEPH RYAN, AGE 25

LIEUT RICHARD A SHORTALL, AGE 25

PTE FRANCIS PATRICK WOODFORD, AGE 24

Beaumont Hamel at night

"BETTER THAN THE BEST"

"THE WAR TO END ALL WARS"

The Plaque which was on the Deanery Avenue School

Since this is Memorial Day in Newfoundland, I thought this was a good photo to post here.  As children when we were filing in & out of the doors of St Patrick's on Deanery Ave we probably took no notice of the plaque on the side of the door.

 

The plaque indicated that the school, our school, was built as a memorial to the men & boys of St Patrick's Parish who gave their all in the mud and the blood and the gas and the unspeakable horror of "the war to end all wars"! 

 

Now we can appreciate just what those young men of our Parish sacrificed.  Today, on the Anniversary of Beaumont Hamel, where so many young men were killed or maimed, let us remember those who came before us, those who died & those who grieved for them.  Let's also remember just what this plaque & the school to which it was attached meant to that generation.

 

May they all rest in peace and, please God, may we all live in peace. 

 

"BETTER THAN THE BEST"