Memorial Terre-neuvien De Beaumont-hamel

Welcome to the Newfoundland Memorial Park at Beaumont-Hamel, one of the most significant and emotionally powerful sites on the Western Front. Spread across thirty-seven hectares, this park is a rare 'preserved' battlefield, where…

Standing atop the ridge, we are greeted by the Great Caribou, the iconic bronze emblem of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment. Cast by the sculptor Basil Gotto, the caribou stands proudly on a mound of Newfoundland granite, facing…

Descending from the Caribou, we enter the preserved British front-line trench system, known to the newfoundlanders as Saint John's Road. This is a rare opportunity to walk through the actual earthworks of the Great War. …

Walking out into the open area between the lines, we reach a skeletal, preserved tree trunk known as the 'Danger Tree.' This was one of the few landmarks in the devastated nineteen-sixteen landscape—a lone apple tree that stood…

Moving across the valley, we approach the former German front line. This area was anchored by a natural landform known as Why Ravine (Y-Ravine). …

Just beyond the northern boundary of the park lies the Hawthorn Ridge, the site of one of the most famous and controversial events of July First. To support the attack, British tunnelers had placed a massive mine under the German…

Within and surrounding the Newfoundland Memorial Park are several cemeteries that provide a final, somber resting place for those who fell in this sector. The Hawthorn Ridge Cemetery Number Two and the Y-Ravine Cemetery are…

As we conclude our tour of the Newfoundland Memorial Park at Beaumont-Hamel, we return to the Caribou monument. The eighty-five percent casualty rate suffered here remains one of the most tragic chapters of the First World War. …