Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial

Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial
Veterans Affairs Canada Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Caribou statue, Newfoundland Regiment Memorial, Beaumont-Hamel
For the Newfoundland Regiment on the opening day of the Battle of the Somme and World War I Newfoundland forces members whose graves are unknown.
Unveiled	7 June 1925
Location	50°04′25″N 02°38′53″E / 50.07361°N 2.64806°E / 50.07361; 2.64806Coordinates: 50°04′25″N 02°38′53″E / 50.07361°N 2.64806°E / 50.07361; 2.64806 near Beaumont-Hamel, France
Designed by	Rudolph Cochius (landscape) Basil Gotto (memorial)
Total commemorated	814
To the Glory of God and in perpetual remembrance of those officers and men of the Newfoundland Forces who gave their lives by Land and Sea in the Great War and who have no known graves.
Statistics source: Cemetery Details. Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
National Historic Site of Canada
Official name	Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial National Historic Site of Canada
Designated	1996

Statistics source: Cemetery Details. Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

The Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial is a memorial site in France dedicated to the commemoration of Dominion of Newfoundland forces members who were killed during World War I. The 74-acre (300,000 m²) preserved battlefield park encompasses the grounds over which the Newfoundland Regiment made their unsuccessful attack on 1 July 1916 during the first day of the Battle of the Somme.

The Battle of the Somme was the regiment's first major engagement, and during an assault that lasted approximately 30 minutes the regiment was all but wiped out. Purchased in 1921 by the people of Newfoundland, the memorial site is the largest battalion memorial on the Western Front, and the largest area of the Somme battlefield that has been preserved. Along with preserved trench lines, there are a number of memorials and cemeteries contained within the site.

Officially opened by British Field Marshal Earl Haig in 1925, the memorial site is one of only two National Historic Sites of Canada located outside of Canada. (The other is the Canadian National Vimy Memorial). The memorial site and experience of the Newfoundland Regiment at Beaumont-Hamel has come to represent the Newfoundland First World War experience. As a result, it has become a Newfoundland symbol of sacrifice and a source of identity.

During the First World War, Newfoundland was a largely rural Dominion of the British Empire with a population of 240,000, and not yet part of Canada. The outbreak of the First World War in 1914 led the Government of Newfoundland to recruit a force for service with the British Army. Even though the island had not possessed any formal military organization since 1870, enough men soon volunteered that an entire battalion was formed, and later maintained throughout the war. The regiment trained at various locations in the United Kingdom and increased from an initial contingent of 500 men to full battalion strength of 1,000 men, before being deployed. After a period of acclimatization in Egypt, the regiment was deployed at Suvla Bay on the Gallipoli peninsula with the 29th British Division in support of the Gallipoli Campaign. With the close of the Gallipoli Campaign the regiment spent a short period recuperating before being transferred to the Western Front in March 1916.