Today marks the 100th anniversary of the start of the Battle of the Somme.
I was over in France last month and we headed to the site of the Somme, taking in Thiepval, Beaumont Hamel and other places now entrenched in the history of the first world war.
The first site visited was the Newfoundland Memorial at Beaumont Hamel, the largest area of the site of the battle that has been preserved. Shell holes remain, trenches clearly visible and most haunting of all, the “Danger Tree”. This petrified tree is all that remains of the many trees that once stood at this site before battle commenced. It became a key objective in the battle.
The Newfoundland Regiment were one of the regiments that went over the top on that first day of the Battle of the Somme. Of the 780 men of this regiment that went over, only 68 were able to report for roll call the next day.
In walking around the “Y-Trench” cemetery within these grounds, I was struck by the number of graves that all bore the date of that fateful first day of fighting, 1st July 1916.
The other telling factor was the number of graves where the bodies were unidentifiable and simply marked as “Known unto God”.
Beyond the cemetery, scars left by shells remained.
This memorial site is one of just two National Historic Sites of Canada that lie outside of Canada, with the main memorial depicting an antler clad caribou, symbol of the regiment.
As much as the memorial was impressive, it was the preserved scars of war, the unmarked graves and the statistics that had the most effect on me. I was humbled.
Let us not forget.
Credit: Information sourced from Wikipedia
Meticulous Mick 
So solemn. Thank you for showing this. I’ll be heading to our national Australian War Memorial next month to honour my great uncle MIA presumed killed at Bullecourt. The memorial is illuminating the names on the Honour Roll, one by one, on the stone wall.
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It was a very moving experience. In the village of Poziers there were many Australian flags in honour of the Australian divisions that had fought there 100 years ago. It was great to see them still being remembered and honoured today. MM🍀
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What an eye-opening post. Thank you for that, John.
As usual, your photos are perfection!
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Oh my. What a heart-wrenching and important place to visit. Thank you for sharing.
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I’d recommend it to anyone. There are a lot of good programmes on the Somme right now, but for impact there is nothing like going to these places. MM🍀
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Reblogged this on Janet’s thread.
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Powerful photos!
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The scars of war, the unmarked graves and the statistics …..absolutely
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Great post.
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Thank you Victor
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A wonderful post MM .. Let us not forget
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A good trip to provide real perspective 🍀
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Reblogged this on Retirement and beyond and commented:
A sad day 100 Years ago.
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Great post, I have shared on my blog. What a tragic day it was.
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Totally, all the lives lost on both side for such a paltry gain. Makes one think twice and hence why we should not forget.
Thanks for the reblog Joan, MM
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