France
Somme Battlefields
Beaumont-Hamel
The Newfoundland Memorial Park
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The Newfoundland Memorial Park at Beaumont-Hamel, now a Canadian Historic Site, was purchased by the then Government of Newfoundland as a memorial to their soldiers and sailors who fell during the Battle of the Somme. The park covers 84 acres and was officially opened in 1925 by Earl Haig.
The park contains a number of individual memorials and war cemeteries, some of which commemorate other units, including a fine memorial (below) to the men of the 51st (Highland) Division who were brought into action here as the battle dragged on. The Caribou was the Newfoundland Regiment`s emblem and this `Grieving Caribou` bronze is one of four identical statues in France. There are orientation arrows around the base of the Caribou statue within the Park which identify various parts of the battlefield. As a prelude to the Somme offensive a number of massive mines were detonated under the German lines, including one close to Beaumont Hamel, intended to destroy the German redoubt known as Hawthorn. As happened elsewhere along the length of the front, the explosions only served to warn the surviving defenders of the impending assault. |
The flags of France, Canada and Newfoundland.
The massed ranks of infantry left their trenches and were massacred, many even before they had the chance to advance. It is estimated that in the 1st Battalion of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment alone, only 68 men were left unwounded out of the 801 who made the attack.
Right: This is all that`s left of the `Danger Tree`, one of the few skeletal trunks that still stood when the the Newfoundlanders went `over the top` on 1 July 1916 to take the notorious German strongpoint of `Y` Ravine which lay directly ahead across no-man`s land. The attackers were met with withering machine-gun fire and sought temporary cover here but it proved an ideal marker for enemy artillery. As a result more men fell on this spot than anywhere else in this section of the battlefield.
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Left: One of the bronze lions flanking the 51st Highland Division memorial within the Park. The Cross of Sacrifice at Hunter's Cemetery can be seen in the background.
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During the early hours of 1 July 1916, the Allied troops had assembled in trenches and sunken roads such as the one shown above, waiting to go `Over the top` or, in the case of the second wave, move forward and reinforce the initial attack.
The sappers who had dug the tunnels under the German lines, and packed the mines with explosives, could relax and have a smoke as the minutes ticked by, knowing that their contribution was over, for the time being at least. |
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This iconic image shows the Hawthorn mine erupting, the largest of seventeen blown under the German front line. 45,000 pounds of ammonal was used. The photo was taken at 07:20 hrs on 1 July 1916 by cameraman Ernest Brooks. Two official cinematographers, Geoffrey Malins and John McDowell, were nearby and their footage of the explosion featured in the famous documentary film `The Battle of the Somme` which was released in August 1916. My own shots, taken 90 years later, show Hawthorn Ridge from the same spot that Brooks filmed the explosion.
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The controversial and erroneous decision was taken to detonate the mine under the heavily defended Hawthorn Ridge Redoubt eight minutes before the others.
Across no man`s land, German soldiers were launched into the air, and fell to be buried by the falling earth, whether they were dead or not. The roar of the explosion announced to those all along the line that an Allied assault was imminent and the surviving Germans on the Ridge hurriedly ran to the rim of the crater and set up machine guns. |
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Minutes later, all along the line, 60,000 soldiers moved forward, most of them heavily laden with weapons, ammo and ancillary equipment, many under the illusion that the force of the massive blasts would have rendered the enemy incapable of responding. Instead, the first day of July 1916 became the blackest day in the history of the British Army which sustained almost 60,000 casualties, 20,000 of whom were killed.
Above: Officers and men of the Gordon Highlanders resting by the roadside, July 1916. Left: Roll Call of the 2nd Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders, near Beaumont Hamel on the afternoon of 1 July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme. They are wearing a haversack, rolled groundsheet and mess tin instead of large packs. The insignia on their sleeves indicates that they were part of the attacking force. |
Roll call of the 1st Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers, on the afternoon of 1 July 1916, following their assault on Beaumont Hamel.
The above images, taken in late November 1916 after the capture of Beaumont Hamel, show parties of British troops working within the vast crater formed by the detonation of the Hawthorn Ridge mine. The depression measured 150 yards long, 100 yards wide and 80 feet deep. Although the Hawthorn mine was the first to be detonated, it is now the Lochnagar Crater, to the east, near La Boiselle, which remains to illustrate the extent of the devastation that occurred along the Somme, within the first few minutes on that first day. (LINK)*
Please bear in mind that all images on this website are Copyright. They are not free to use and have been embedded with a digital watermark. The black & white photographs from the Imperial War Museum`s collection have been used courtesy of its `Share & Reuse` policy and are also subject to copyright restrictions.
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The bronze figure of a kilted Highlander stands on a plinth of Aberdeen granite and commemorates the 51st Highland Division`s capture of `Y` Ravine as well as the men who died in the action.
The Germans were experts at creating strong defensive positions and the lengthy ravine was riddled with connecting tunnels and deep, comfortable dugouts able to withstand even the worst of the Allied shelling. Above: The Highland Division`s motif has been replicated on the paving stones beside the memorial. (to edit)**
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Beaumont Hamel as it looked over six months after its capture by Allied forces. Despite the Allied advance shells were still bursting upon British lines. Below Right is another aerial reconnaissance photograph of the village and adjacent network of fortifications including Y Ravine.
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As can be seen, certain areas of the Memorial Park, including `Y` Ravine, are still thought to contain unexploded ordnance.
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The Highlanders finally captured `Y` Ravine on 13 November 1916 during Part 5 of the Somme Offensive by which time forty-five percent of the Division`s troops were either dead, wounded or missing. Below: This wooden Celtic cross is a memorial to the men of the Division who fell at High Wood during the Somme Offensive. **
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A closer view of `Y` Ravine.
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This wooden cross was erected to honour the Officers, NCOs and Men of the 51st (Highland) Division who fell at High Wood in July 1916.
Hunter's Cemetery stands at the upper end of "Y" Ravine, within Newfoundland Memorial Park. The origin of this cemetery`s name may refer to the Rev. Hunter, a Chaplain who was attached to the Black Watch. The site is actually a massive shell-hole, in which soldiers of the 51st Division, who fell in the capture of Beaumont-Hamel, were buried after the battle. There are now over 40, Great War casualties commemorated here.
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Below right is a memorial to the 29th Division which was known as the Incomparable Division. The unit was formed in early 1915 by combining various Regular Army formations that had been acting as garrisons around the British Empire. Under the command of Major-General Aylmer Hunter-Weston, the division fought throughout the Gallipoli Campaign, including the original landing at Cape Helles and at Suvla. In January 1916, the 29th was evacuated from Gallipoli to Egypt then transferred to the Western Front where it fought in Belgium and France until the conflict ended.
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The 29th suffered one of the highest casualty rates of any Allied division in the Great War, with the dead, wounded, missing or captured during the ill-fated Gallipoli campaign alone amounting to 34,000, out of a total of 94,000 for the entire war. A record number of 27 Victoria Crosses (12 at Gallipoli) was won by members of this division.
The 29th Division arrived in the rear of the Somme sector from 15 to 29 March 1916. From this time the Division was positioned in the area north of the Ancre River, near to Beaumont Hamel. For the following three months the battalions in the Division spent their time doing tours of trenches and training behind the lines to prepare for the large British offensive against the German position planned for the end of June. 
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Below: A wiring party of the 1st Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers going up to the trenches. Beaumont Hamel, July 1916. Note a trench pump in the foreground.
Left & Below: Troops of the 4th Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment (29th Division) resting, on their way to the trenches. Note wire cutters attached to rifles; Acheux-en-Amiénois, 27 June 1916.
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Following a 7-day artillery bombardment of the German Front and Rear areas, the battalions of the 29th Division were in position in their Assembly Trenches in the early hours of Saturday 1 July. (to edit)* The Imperial War Museum image below left shows a group of troops of the 1st Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment, assembling at the "White City" opposite Hawthorn Ridge for the attack on Beaumont Hamel. Behind them is a party from the 2nd Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders of the 4th Division. The other photograph shows wounded men of the 1st Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers, being tended in a trench in the 29th Division's area near Beaumont Hamel on the morning of the initial assault, 1st July 1916.
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At 07.20 hours the huge Hawthorn mine was blown on the left of the division's position. The leading battalions in the attack left the British Front Line trench at 07.30 hours. The British casualties were very heavy, with many men never reaching the German Front Line. The men of the Newfoundland Regiment moved forward at about 09.00 hours to follow on behind the leading battalion in the advance of 88th Brigade. Many of them were shot down trying to clamber overground to cover the few yards from where they were in the rear of the British Front Line to start their advance down the hill. (to edit)*
Hawthorn Ridge Cemetery No.2 (below) is also located within the Newfoundland Memorial Park and lies 460 metres south of No.1 (not illustrated) which is beyond the park`s perimeter and accessed via an untarred, single track road. There is no turning point and weather conditions can often render this track impassable for cars. Hawthorn Ridge Cemetery No.1 was made by V Corps, who cleared the Ancre battlefields in the spring of 1917 and designated the site V Corps Cemetery No.9. There are now over 150, 1914-18 war casualties commemorated here, nearly half of which are unidentified.
Hawthorn Ridge Cemetery No.2 (above) was also made by V Corps (as `V Corps Cemetery No.12`) in the spring of 1917, and seven isolated graves were brought in after the Armistice. There are now over 200 WW1 casualties commemorated in this site, over 50 of which area unidentified. The vast majority of those buried in cemeteries No.1 and 2 were killed on the first day of the Somme Offensive.
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The view above was taken on 26 November 1916 and shows the ruined village of Beaumont Hamel, which was captured on 13th November, with grave monuments erected by the Germans to their fallen comrades. The heap towards the top left is all that remains of the Church. The views below are of Machine Gun Corps troops at the entrance of a captured German dug-out nicknamed 'M.G.C. Ye Corner House', which was under the ruined church. The officer standing at the entrance is wearing trench waders.
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The Hawthorn Redoubt
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Following the capture of Beaumont-Hamel on 13 November 1916 this cemetery was established, originally as 'V Corps Cemetery No.23` and troops were buried here until February 1917.
After the Armistice, graves were brought in from the surrounding battlefields and the cemetery now contains 179 Commonwealth burials and commemorations from the First World War, 82 of these burials being unidentified. The cemetery was designed by W H Cowlishaw. On the right is another IWM image showing the devastated village after its capture. The scant remnants of the church are clearly visible in the centre and surprisingly some vertical tree stumps have survived the intense and prolonged bombardments. |
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This memorial to the 8th Argylls, signposted 'Monument Ecossaise`, is located between Auchonvillers and Beaumont Hamel on the D163, close to the Sunken Road where troops, including those of the 1/8th (Argyll) Battalion, Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, assembled for the assault on the Hawthorn Redoubt on 13th November 1916. The Argylls attacked as part of the 51st Highland Division and the memorial, in the form of a Celtic cross, is sited only yards from where the unit`s Battalion HQ was situated that day. After purchasing the ground at a nominal price, the Memorial was unveiled by the Duke of Argyll on Sunday 4th March 1923. It stands 27 foot high and the funds for its creation were raised by ‘The Ladies of Argyll.’
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The word `Cruachan`, the war cry of the Campbells, is inscribed on the memorial`s base as is a Gaelic phrase which translates as `The complete Heroes of the Great War, the Braves who went before us`. The memorial also gives details of the battles in which the following units fought: The 8th Argyllshire Bn, Princess Louise`s Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, the 51st (Highland) Division, the 61st Division and the 15th (Scottish) Division.
Auchonvillers
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Auchonvillers was nicknamed `Ocean Villas` by the Tommies. The village lay just behind the front line on the Somme battlefield near Beaumont-Hamel and the British took over positions here when they were vacated by the French in July 1915.
Increased shelling gradually reduced the buildings to rubble but there were underground billets and an Advanced Dressing Station to cope with the mounting number of wounded. The 29th Division occupied the village on 1 July 1916 for the opening of the Somme offensive and by the November of that year the 51st (Highland) Division were in residence for the capture of Beaumont-Hamel and its infamous strongpoint of Y-Ravine. Right: The German Lines and the church at Beaumont Hamel are included in this RFC aerial reconnaissance photo. |
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Ocean Villas Tea Rooms and the Avril Williams Guesthouse now has a small museum contained in one of the outbuildings. Numerous items, previously stored in her garage, are now on permanent display and include relics from both the First and Second World War. Further information can be found here.
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Despite the rather deserted appearance in the top photo, the tea room (and trench system) can get very busy and the guesthouse rooms can fill quickly especially as this is about as close as visitors can get to actually staying in a trench - location that is - not, I`m sure, a reference to the comfort or quality of the accommodation, although Ms Williams` cat seems to prefer the trenches to the guesthouse! The above photo proves that, contrary to popular belief, Avril`s chickens don`t all wear tin helmets!
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The original farm building was rebuilt in 1923 after being totally destroyed during the First World War. A plaque informs visitors that the section of trench in the grounds was restored in 2006 by the RAF Regiment Training Wing from RAF Honington.
Above: The replica of a Field Dressing Station entrance is particularly apt as a basement in the guesthouse was actually used both by the French and British as a First Aid Station during the Great War. Many of the troops who passed through scratched their names and unit information on the walls and the writing can still be seen. Mrs Williams has researched many of the individuals involved, several of whom have interesting backgrounds.
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This memorial commemorates the French civilians and military personnel from Auchonvillers who lost their lives during the Great War.