My Weekend (Pt 3)

[TSC.]

Hi all,

Newfoundland Memorial Park at Beaumont-Hamel covers 84 acres and was the scene of the attack by the 1st Battalion of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment on the 1st July 1916.

Every Officer was either killed or wounded and of the 801 men only 68 were not wounded.

Here you can see two distinct trench lines, one that runs along by the wooden steps & one that runs along near the two people in the red & blue. The nearest line is the Newfoundlanders front line, the further line is the German front line. Like Vimy Ridge, the distance between both army's wasn't far at all:


A trench that has been left to 'grow over' with time:


Part of the Newfoundland Memorial:


The Lochnagar Crater is one of the largest craters remaining from the Battle of the Somme. The crater itself was caused by two charges of ammonal, of 24,000lb and 30,000lb. To give you an idea of scale, thats me stood on the other side of the crater:


These charges had been detonated after allied troops had tunnelled underneath the German front line:


Debris from the explosion rose some 4,000ft into the air

Next, 'daily reminders'.

Cheers,

TSC.

[Craig.]

If I remember our history teacher rightly, the sound of the blast from that crater explosion could be heard as far as London.

[Woodlouse2002]

If I remember our history teacher rightly, the sound of the blast from that crater explosion could be heard as far as London.

I think those were a different set of mines of equal size near the flemish coast. It is a remarkable story though that tunneling. Made even more so by the fact that the Germans were doing exactly the same thing so you ran the risk of literally digging into eachother. Quite scary when all you've got in the ensuing firefight is bolt action rifles, pistols and mills bombs and your 20 feet under ground.

[C]

The Lochnager crater - is that the one just on the far side of the memorial area at Beaumont Hamel?

Nice set of pics. One of the things I remember seeing there several years back were the stacks of shells by the sides of the fields, just as shown in your other post.

[TSC.]

Posted by: Charlie Posted on: Today at 8:42pm
The Lochnager crater - is that the one just on the far side of the memorial area at Beaumont Hamel?

That's Hawthorne Ridge Charlie.

Inside the crater at Hawthorne Ridge:


Looking across towards the 'Sunken Road' & the British cemetery from Hawthorne Ridge:


Cheers,

TSC.

[C]

That's Hawthorne Ridge Charlie.

Inside the crater at Hawthorne Ridge:

Ah yes. Exactly as I remember. When I saw the other one I wonder if someone had cut down all the trees...