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| IJ / DM Newfoundland Park 2023 |
On the the 1st July 1916 the the 29th Division's 87th Brigade attacked Beaumont Hamel.
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| British frontline trenches |
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| British frontline - no mans land towards Beaumont Hamel |
The German front line was held by the 26th Wurttemberg Division had occupied the position for 18 months They were able to develop well fortified positions, deep dugouts and tunnel systems. Y-Ravine was incorporated into the defences. The German position gave clear lines of fire across no mans land.
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| German front line looking across no mans land |
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| Y Ravine |
The 7 days of preliminary bombardment had done little to destroy German defences or cut the wire. The assaulting troops were soon pinned down in no mans land.
The 1st Newfoundland Regiment in the second wave awaited in St John's Road Trench for
the order to move forward.
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| 1st Newfoundland Regiment St Johns Road Trench - 1-July 1916 |
At 09:15, the Newfoundlanders began to advance. The German machine Gunners targeted narrow gaps in the barbed wire. The advance lasted 30 minutes, by 09:45 86% of the Battalion were casualties.
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| 1st Newfoundland Regiment Attack |
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| 1st Newfoundland Regiment Attack |
Despite heavy machine fire, a few members of the 1st Newfoundland Regiment made it to a small ridge, where they sustained heavy casualties, a spot marked by a broken and twisted tree.
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| Newfoundland Park Danger Tree |
The Newfoundland Park contains a memorial to the men of the 29th Division who attacked Beaumont Hamel.
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| Newfoundland Park 29th Division Memorial |
A bronze caribou memorial faces the direction that the Newfoundland troops advanced on the 1st July 1916.
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| Newfoundland Caribou Memorial |
The Caribou is mounted on rocks surrounded by shrubs from Newfoundland.
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| Newfoundland Caribou Memorial |
The memorial records the names of 821 Newfoundlanders who lost their lives during the First World War and have no known graves. The names include 592 members of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, 114 sailors of the Newfoundland Royal Naval Reserve and 116 merchant seaman.
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| Newfoundland Caribou Memorial name plaques |
Beaumont Hamel and Y Ravine would be eventually be captured by the 51st Highland Division during the Battle of the Ancre in November 1916. An objective of the 1st July taken on the final days of the Battles of the Somme.
A monument to the 51st Highland Division commemorates the action.
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| Newfoundland Park 51st Highland Divisional Memorial |