May 28, 2019: The Somme

Posted on by CBF Student

Today we visited several different memorial sites connected to the Battle of the Somme (July 1-November 18, 1916), including the Newfoundland Memorial at Beaumont-Hamel, Thiepval Memorial, and Courcelette. The whole day was very though-provoking and for me, the Newfoundland Memorial was particularly poignant. Throughout the day the weather shifted back and forth between sunshine and rain, and this was the case during the hour and a half we spent at the Newfoundland Memorial. The park is set in the Somme battlefield and the ground is riddled with the remains of old trenches and shell holes, which gives it an eerie green wave effect. It is a beautiful place but it carries a deep sadness that comes from the knowledge of the massive loss of life that occurred on the pockmarked hill.

The Newfoundland Regiment participated in their first major engagement after being stationed at Gallipoli at the Somme on July 1, 1916. In the short battle the Regiment sustained a nearly 80% casualty rate within the first 20 minutes of the attack, which is why the people of Newfoundland committed to building a memorial, and the whole site is now maintained and run by Parks Canada.

Walking through the quiet site really helps build a clearer idea of what trench warfare and fighting through mud and up and down hills would have been like. Some of the trenches (a mixture of German and British) are still big enough to walk through and it helps to be able to imagine the sense of smallness that many of the soldiers must have felt when they were preparing to cross No Man’s Land and attack the enemy on the other side.

The site is a beautiful memorial to the sacrifices made by the men who fought in the viciously deadly Battle of the Somme during the Great War.

— Haley Kloosterhof

A Day To Remember

Posted on by CBF Student

I must say, I am very impressed with the CBF tour so far. From the expert knowledge of the guides to the quality of presentations from the students, it has been an informative and moving experience. Today we visited a few significant Great War sites. We started the day with our second Newfoundland caribou memorial which is in Gueudecourt. Being born in Newfoundland and having the majority of my family still there, it was emotionally moving to be there and to know that the men are remembered in a positive light, and in such a beautiful space to top it off. To me, the caribou memorials represent the eternal life of the Dominion, and I’m sure they would be happy to know they are remembered in such a way.

We visited numerous sites, but apart from the Newfoundland Regiment memorial, the two that stand out are the French cemetery at Notre Dame de Lorette and the Vimy Ridge memorial. Notre Dame de Lorette was even more impressive than the Thiepval memorial both in terms of stature and emotional evocativeness. The Byzantine church had me in awe. The mosaics, colour pallets, inscribed names, and quietness of the church were all very moving. The Ossuary was also particularly moving. The ashes of Auschwitz survivors alongside the remains of French veterans from various conflicts in an open viewing style was extremely humbling and made me contemplate about the ease of life in general in the West over the past 60 or so years. For me, the best way to remember those who fell so we might live is to live a full and satisfying life with them in mind. Their sacrifice is not in vain.

Vimy Ridge was more than I ever could have imagined, both in terms of stature and beauty. I found a Sheppard (my last name) on the list and although I do not know whether he was a family member or distant relative, it was emotional to see. From the memorial, we went into the Grange Tunnel, a tunnel used by the Canadians to attack the German positions at Vimy Ridge. I’m slightly claustrophobic, and being in there was unnerving, to say the least. It made me think of the soldiers who might have also been claustrophobic and how emotionally and mentally taxing it would have been to have to sit there and wait for the call to rush out. Finally, at Vimy Ridge, we saw the observation trenches of both the Canadians and the Germans which were only 25 metres apart, separated by massive mine craters. If you coughed the other side would have heard you. The constant stress of close proximity to the enemy would be a taxing experience as well. On the whole, Vimy Ridge, to me, is an astounding visual experience and testament to the Canadian fighting experience and capability.

I want to finish by thanking the CBF for having me on the trip and showing the entire group the important history of our country and countrymen and women.

 

-Josh

Impressions of Arras

Posted on by CBF Student

The major theme of today was walking French and Commonwealth battlefields around Arras. The Arras sector was under the jurisdiction of the French until 1917, when the British took over over operations. The British and Commonwealth battles of Spring 1917 around Arras were largely diversionary in nature, launched in support of the French Nivelle Offensive.

The morning was taken up by a visit to a Newfoundland Regiment memorial at Gueudecourt, another German cemetery, a British cemetery (Cabaret Rouge) and a French cemetery the Notre Dame de Lorette. The Newfoundland Regiment memorial nicely complemented our previous visit to Beaumont-Hamel. Notre Dame de Lorette made a particularly large impression, especially in contrast to the more somber affair of Commonwealth cemeteries.

In the afternoon, we visited Vimy Ridge which was definitely the highlight of the day. Despite the controversy revolving around Vimy Ridge as a nation building myth, the monument is an important place of commemoration of not just the titular battle, but the entirety of Canada’s Great War experience. I think every Canadian should travel to the Vimy Ridge monument.

The day ended with a visit to Arras and the Wellington quarry, a tunnel system used by the British to launch their Arras offensive in Spring 1917. We went for a tour in the enlarged quarry that housed over 24,000 soldiers for eight days before the offensive. We had to reproductions for WW1 British helmets for safety reasons and I was fairly concerned about contracting lice.

Overall, today was a great experience that I hope will continue for the rest of the trip.

— Jacob

Experiencing Battlefields in Person

Posted on by CBF Student

This small tree at Beaumont Hamel marks the furthest point the soldiers of the Newfoundland 1st Regiment managed to reach, and the end of my two minute walk

Today’s battlefield experiences drove home the reality of the cost in human lives that movement forward could cost in the First World War.  At Beaumont Hamel we were able to re-trace some of the steps of the Newfoundland 1st Regiment as they attempted to break through German lines. In a walk that took about two minutes at a leisurely pace, I crossed the ground where 86% of the regiment fell in one morning.  Of 800 soldiers who set out on the assault, only 68 remained by the end of the day.  Reading those numbers on paper could only begin to help me comprehend the sacrifices that were made on that day; the numbers are difficult to visualize. Walking along their route through the shell-pocked landscape between the two ridges from which they were bombarded with sniper fire made these soldiers’ experiences more comprehensible, while at the same time making their level of determination.

We had a similar experience when Mark Symons presented his research on the Canadian struggle to take Regina Trench.  Their attack over a ridge that seemed small on topographic maps became much more daunting when seen in person, reshaping our understanding of the three attempts it took the Canadians to reach their objective.

I also had an opportunity to speak about my passion for medical history.  The field ambulances attached to the 2nd Canadian Division as they took the village of Courcelette on the Somme demonstrated amazing perseverance in their largely successful task of evacuating wounded soldiers through three days of intense fighting and mud.  The 4th Canadian Field Ambulance took in a record 1,624 wounded men on the September 15, 1916 and managed to continue transporting them despite the loss of their horse and motor ambulances. The organisation of an efficient system took time to develop through the Great War, but provides a strong example of the benefits of the accepting input from the Medical Corps in planning military operations.

Emily Engbers, Kings University College, London Ontario