Beaumont Hamel Memorial Plaques

A.M.D.G. NEWFOUNDLAND WAR MEMORIAL PARK BEAUMONT HAMEL.

THIS PARK EMBRACES THE GROUNDS OVER WHICH THE NEWFOUNDLANDERS FOUGHT ON THE FIRST OF JULY 1916. AND WAS PURCHASED AND CONSTRUCTED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF LT.-COL. T. NANGLE AND R.H.K. COCHIUS ESQ, LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT. FROM FUNDS SUBSCRIBED BY THE GOVERNMENT AND WOMEN OF NEWFOUNDLAND. AND WAS OPENED BY FIELD MARSHAL EARL HAIG K.T. G.C.B. OM. LATE COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF THE BRITISH EXPEDITIONARY FORCE. ON JUNE 7TH 1925.

BEAUMONT-HAMEL, NEWFOUNDLANDERS AND THE GREAT WAR

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 N.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.

Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada
Government of Canada