Beaumont-Hamel symbolizes the service and sacrifice of Newfoundlanders during the First World War. This park pays special tribute to the role of the Newfoundland Regiment in the Battle of the Somme and the heavy losses it suffered. The park also stands as a memorial to those Newfoundlanders who fell in battle and who have no known grave.
The Newfoundland Regiment participated in the great Somme offensive where, on 1 July 1916, strategic and tactical miscalculations led to a terrible slaughter. Despite its horrific casualties, the Regiment fought until 1918. For its valour, it won the right to add "Royal" to its name, the only such honour bestowed during the Great War.
Once a battlefield, Beaumont-Hamel became, in 1922, a memorial park conceived by Padre Thomas Nangle and planned by Rudolph H. K. Cochius. Its design evokes the Newfoundland environment: overlooking the battlefield stands a bronze caribou resting on a granite base surrounded by plants native to the island. Three bronze tablets bear the names of Newfoundlanders buried elsewhere. This memorial park honours those soldiers and ensures that their sacrifice will never be forgotten.
Beaumont-Hamel symbolise la contribution et le sacrifice des Terre-Neuviens lors de la Première Guerre mondiale. Ce parc témoigne de l'engagement du Newfoundland Regiment et de ses lourdes pertes durant la bataille de la Somme. Il marque aussi le lieu de repos des Terre-Neuviens tombés au combat sans sépulture connue.
Le Newfoundland Regiment participa à la grande offensive de la Somme qu'une stratégie et des tactiques déficientes traduisirent, le 1er juillet 1916, en une hécatombe. Malgré ses pertes, le régiment combattit jusqu'en 1918. Sa détermination lui valut alors l'honneur de greffer le terme «royal» à son appellation régimentaire, seule distinction du genre à être accordée au cours de la Grande Guerre.
Zone de combat, Beaumont-Hamel devient, dès 1922, un parc commémoratif conçu par l'aumônier Thomas Nangle et aménagé selon les dessins de Rudolph H. K. Cochius. Son plan d'aménagement reflète l'environnement insulaire : un caribou en bronze surmonte un monticule de granit qui surplombe le champ de bataille. Autour de celui-ci se retrouvent des plantes de l'île et, à sa base, trois tablettes en bronze portant les noms de Terre-Neuviens sans épitaphe. Ce parc assure aux disparus la sérénité de leur repos et la pérennité de leur sacrifice dans nos mémoires.
The following text is taken from the Veterans Affairs Canada web site.
Located in northern France, the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial can be found nine kilometres north of the town of Albert within the département of the Somme.
The Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial encompasses 30 hectares and is the largest of five Newfoundland memorial sites in France and Belgium that together form the Caribou Trail.
Sculptor Basil Gotto's bronze caribou design is believed to have been inspired in part by the iconic Newfoundland photograph, "The Monarch of the Topsails". The noble bronze caribou is the emblem of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment.
Landscape architect Rudolph H.K. Cochius incorporated touches from home throughout his design. The Caribou Monument sits atop a mound surrounded by rock and shrubs native to Newfoundland. More than 5,000 trees native to Newfoundland (including spruce, dogberry and juniper) were also planted along the boundaries of the site before its opening in 1925.
820 names are inscribed on three bronze tablets at the base of the Caribou Monument in memory of those who died during the First World War and had no known grave. The list includes 591 members of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, 114 sailors in the Newfoundland Royal Naval Reserve and 115 Merchant Mariners.
Three Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries are located at the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial: Hawthorn Ridge Cemetery No. 2, Hunter's Cemetery and Y Ravine Cemetery. Almost 700 war casualties are buried or commemorated at these sites, with approximately 1/4 remaining unidentified even today.
Located halfway across No Man's Land, the “Danger Tree” marked an area of particularly heavy fire and the site of a high concentration of Newfoundland casualties. Following the battle, the tree's broken and twisted remains emerged as an important symbol of the scope of devastation the fighting caused. Today, a replica of the original tree stands in its place.
Though unrecognizable after the battle, the “Danger Tree” was originally a plum tree.
The Memorial's majestic caribou statue is estimated to weigh approximately 770 kilograms (1,700 pounds).
Field-Marshal Earl Douglas Haig, Commander of the British Expeditionary Force during the Battle of the Somme, officially unveiled the Memorial on June 7, 1925.
Along with the Canadian National Vimy Memorial, Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial is one of only two National Historic Sites located outside of Canada.
The kilted figure standing atop the 51st (Highland) Division Memorial was modeled after a real First World War soldier. Company Sergeant Major Bob Rowan of the Glasgow Highlanders was sculptor George Paulin's inspiration. A Gaelic plaque on the front of the memorial reads La a'Blair s'math n Cairdean (friends are good on the day of battle).