5129 x 3418 px | 43,4 x 28,9 cm | 17,1 x 11,4 inches | 300dpi
Date de la prise de vue:
juin 2008
Lieu:
Newfoundland Memorial Park, Hamel and Auchonvillers road, Beaumont Hamel, The Somme, France
Informations supplémentaires:
The statue on the 51st Highland Division Memorial in the Newfoundland Memorial Park, Beaumont Hamel, France. The advance here was actually downhill - unlike in many other places on the 1st of July 1916 - but there was no cover, and the advancing troops were met by machine-gun fire. About half-way across No Mans Land is the Danger Tree - a preserved tree, thought to be original, which probably marks about the limit of any Newfoundler's advance that day. This park, located near Beaumont Hamel, is one of only a few sites on the Western Front where the ground remains largely untouched from when the First World War ended. The area has been maintained because of the significance to Newfoundland; the Newfoundland Regiment, which was part of the 88th Infantry Brigade within the 29th Division, attacked here on the 1st of July 1916, and suffered appalling losses. After the War, Newfoundland purchased this land in 1921, and first it and then the Canadian government (after 1949) have maintained it since as a memorial. It was officially opened in 1925, by Earl Haig. In 1997 it was designated a Canadian National Historic Site. The statue of the Caribou (see below) was chosen for the Memorial, as it was the symbol of the Newfoundland Regiment. (Source: ww1battlefields.co.uk)
