Battle of Beaumont Hamel

While most Canadians associate July 1 with the celebration of Canada Day, in Newfoundland and Labrador July 1 is also Memorial Day, commemorating Newfoundland's heavy losses in the Battle of Beaumont Hamel in World War I. Of the 801 soldiers of the 1st Newfoundland Regiment who went into battle at Beaumont-Hamel on the morning of July 1, 1916, 733 were killed or wounded, in less than an hour. Join Newfoundlanders in remembering and honoring the courage shown and the price paid by those young men.

More World War I Battles
Battle of Ypres 1915
Battle of Vimy Ridge
Battle of Passchendaele
Canada and World War I

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Battle of Ypres 1915

 

Canadians established their reputation as a fighting force in World War I during the second Battle of Ypres in April 1915. The 1st Canadian Division had just arrived on the Western Front and, after a long artillery bombardment, held their own against the Germans' use of a new weapon of modern warfare - chlorine gas.

It was also in the trenches at Ypres that John McCrae wrote the poem In Flanders Fields when a close friend of his became one of 6000 Canadian casualties in just 48 hours.

Photo: Flanders Poppies
Tom Brakefield / Getty Images

Canada and World War I
Battle of Vimy Ridge
Battle of Beaumont Hamel
Battle of Passchendaele
The Halifax Explosion
Canada and World War I

View the original article here