Scars of World War I: The Battlefield of Beaumont-Hamel

The village of Beaumont-Hamel, in northern France, was one of the fortress villages located just behind the German lines during the Battle of the Somme. It was here, on July 1st 1916, one of the most destructive battles of World War One took place where nearly an entire regiment of the Canadian Army was wiped out. On the morning of July 1st 1916 the 1st Newfoundland Regiment of the Canadian Army was ordered into battle as part of the opening phase of the Battle of the Somme. Their assignment was to seize control of the German trenches near the village of Beaumont Hamel. It was a strategically difficult assignment. The German front lines were about 300 to 500 meters away from where the Newfoundland Regiment was stationed, down a grassy slope and heavily guarded by a three-tiered system of well dug forward trenches shielded with extensive protective wire, that presented a formidable obstacle to any attacking force. Besides, the Germans knew when an attack was going to start. The battlefield of Beaumont-Hamel is still pockmarked with craters and trenches. Photo credit: Michael St. Maur Sheil In the preceding week, the allied forces had carried out a textbook style artillery bombardment against German lines. The Germans knew that once the artillery bombardment stopped, an infantry attack would follow. During the bombardment many Germans were deep underground in relative safety, and when the artillery attack ceased, they made their way to their posts in their trenches to await the attackers. At zero hour, the allied forces detonated 18,000 kilograms of explosives under Hawthorn Ridge, an important German stronghold on its frontline, creating a huge crater which they planned to take under control. But they made another terrible mistake here: they blew the explosives 10 minutes before zero hour. The explosion alerted Germans that a land attack was imminent, and the 10-minute delay gave them just enough time to strengthen their defenses and ready their machine guns.