Battle of the Somme Royal Newfoundland Regiment

restored photo of regiment members in st. john s road, support trench, 200 metres behind british forward line @ beaumont hamel, 1916

in france, regiment regained battalion strength in preparation battle of somme. regiment, still in 29th division, went line in april 1916 @ beaumont-hamel. beaumont-hamel situated near northern end of 45-kilometre front being assaulted joint french , british force. attack, scheduled june 29, 1916, postponed 2 days july 1, 1916, partly on account of inclement weather, , partly allow more time artillery preparation. 29th division, 3 infantry brigades, faced defences manned experienced troops of 119th (reserve) infantry regiment of 26th (wurttemberg) reserve division. 119th (reserve) infantry regiment had been involved in invasion of france in august 1914 , had been manning beaumont-hamel section of line 20 months prior battle. german troops had been spending great deal of time not training fortifying position, including construction of numerous deep dugouts , @ least 2 tunnels.

newfoundland soldiers waiting in st. john s road support trench

the infantry assault 29th division on 1 july 1916 preceded ten minutes earlier mine explosion under heavily fortified hawthorn ridge redoubt. explosion of 18,000 kilograms (40,000 lb) hawthorn mine underneath german lines destroyed major enemy strong point served alert german forces imminent attack. following explosion, troops of 119th (reserve) infantry regiment deployed dugouts firing line, preventing british taking control of resulting crater had planned. when assault began, troops 86th , 87th brigade of 29th division stopped. exception of 1st battalion of royal inniskilling fusiliers on right flank, initial assault foundered in no man s land at, or short of, german barbed wire. @ divisional headquarters, major-general beauvoir de lisle , staff trying unravel numerous , confusing messages coming observation posts, contact aircraft , 2 leading brigades. there indications troops had broken , gone beyond german first line. in effort exploit perceived break in german line ordered 88th brigade, in reserve, send forward 2 battalions support attack.

major-general sir beauvoir de lisle referring newfoundland regiment @ beaumont-hamel

at 8:45 a.m. newfoundland regiment , 1st battalion, essex regiment received orders move forward. newfoundland regiment situated @ st. john s road, support trench 250 yards (230 m) behind british forward line , out of sight of enemy. movement forward through communication trenches not possible because congested dead , wounded men , under shell fire. lieutenant colonel arthur lovell hadow, battalion commander, decided move attack formation , advance across surface, involved first navigating through british barbed wire defences. breasted skyline behind british first line, troops moving on battlefield , visible german defenders. subjected full force of 119th (reserve) infantry regiment, of newfoundland regiment had started forward dead, dying or wounded within 15 20 minutes of leaving st. john s road trench. reached no further danger tree, skeleton of tree lay in no man s land being utilized landmark. far can ascertained, 22 officers , 758 other ranks directly involved in advance. of these, officers , under 658 other ranks became casualties. of 780 men went forward 110 survived unscathed, of whom 68 available roll call following day. intents , purposes newfoundland regiment had been wiped out, unit whole having suffered casualty rate of approximately 90 percent. unit suffer greater casualties during attack 10th (service) battalion, prince of wales s own (west yorkshire regiment), attacking west of fricourt village.