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Almost
all of them perished or were injured, trapped on German barbed wire they thought
had been cut. In less than a half-hour it was over. The next day the damage was
clear: 710 men were missing, wounded or dead. There were only 68 survivors. Almost
the entire regiment was wiped out in its first 30-minute battle.
Today the Newfoundland Memorial Park near Beaumont Hamel commemorates the heroism
and losses of the Newfoundlanders. In the park is a tree called the Danger Tree
which was alive at the time of the battle. It was half-way across No Man's Land
and marks the most forward position the Newfoundlanders achieved before they
were cut down.
Back at home news of the catastrophic losses devasted towns and villages but
didn't dampen the flow of recruits. After the Battle of the Somme, the regiment,
which had lost 90% of its men, was rebuilt and three months later was again battle-ready. |
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