Caribou Monument, Beaumont-Hamel, France, 1988
In Newfoundland the first of July is commemorated as Beaumont Hamel Day. The Battle of the Somme commenced on July 1, 1916, and on that day gallant Newfoundland soldiers suffered over 700 casualties including 233 dead. The memorial is at the site of the Newfoudlanders' participation in the battle, near Albert in northern France.
Following is an email received 9th August 1997:
This Wednesday my sister and I went to visit the memorial and grave of two of our late father's relatives who where killed in the "Great War"(at Arras and Neuvilly nr Le Cateau).We had a short time at the Newfoundland Memorial Park. It was tranquill with a flock of sheep grazing -what a contrast from the hell on earth all those years ago! It was my first time in that region of France ,so many cementeries amongst the fields, a countryside very similar to where I live here in the south of England.Thank you Net site .
Geoff Chapman