MEMORIAL DAY , "BETTER THAN THE BEST"

The Battle of the Somme was one of the largest battles of WWI and one of the bloodiest in human history. It began on 1^st 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!

Marker at Beaumont Hamel

No Canadian infantry units participated in the attack on 1^st July.  (Newfoundland was not part of Canada until 1949!) The 1^st 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.”

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"

In the Museum at Ypres

In the 1920s the Newfoundland Government bought the ground over which the Newfoundland Regiment fought. 

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 1^st 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!).

War Memorial, St John's

Get yourselves off to Bowring Park today (INVITATION OR NO INVITATION!) and sing it LOUD and sing it PROUD!

https://youtu.be/J_wzVUaKLi0

They won us the right to sing it!

REGIMENTAL NUMBER 364

St Patrick's Convent School, Deanery Avenue, was built as a memorial to the men and boys of St Patrick's Parish who died in the carnage of WWI.  Sadly, that building no longer exists.  There is just an empty space where once generations of girls and boys rushed past the memorial plaque by the front entrance. Thanks to Fr Wayne Dohey, the plaque has been erected in St Patrick's Church. 

St Patrick's Convent School, Deanery Avenue

The Plaque which was at the main entrance 

of the school

The Woodfords were one of the many families from our parish who lost loved ones.

One of the First 500, Frank Woodford was a single man living with his parents, John and Jane Woodford, at 7 Convent Square.  Frank was a machinist making wire nails and earning $7.80 a week. He had blue eyes and light hair and on the day of his enlistment, 5th September 1914, he had a cut right hand! 

While training in Scotland, Frank had met a girl, Miss Bethia Morton. It must have been serious because Frank left instructions that she should be notified in the event of his death.

Frank's written instructions

Miss Morton heard that Frank had been wounded and she was still seeking news in August when she wrote this poignant letter.  

Betty Morton's poignant letter

Regimental Number 364, Pte Frank Woodford, was killed in action at Beaumont Hamel on 1st July 1916.  He was 23 years old.

Regimental Number 364, Pte Frank Woodford

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM

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"