A recent visit to the Somme area of northern France gave us the opportunity to do this Great War battlefield walk which included a visit to the memorial of the Canadian Newfoundland regiment.
This easy 8 km walk starts at the church in Auchonvillers,dubbed ‘ocean villas’ by the World War 1 troops. As you leave the village, there is an impressive display of piled up rusty ordnance outside a farmhouse: even today the fields yield a grim harvest of WW1 relics.
A dirt track leads through stubble fields to the memorial to the Canadian Royal Newfoundland regiment which went into action on the first day of the battle of the Somme, 1st July 1916. This was one of the bloodiest days of any war, when the British lost 60,000 men. The 29th division opened the attack at 7.30 am and suffered heavy casualties.
800 men of the Royal Newfoundland regiment then followed at 9 am, but only 68 were left at parade call the next day. In recognition of this great sacrifice, the Canadian government and the families bought the land and created this park in 1921. It is one of only 2 Canadian national historic places outside Canada (the other being Vimy Ridge).
The centrepiece of the park is the magnificent bronze caribou statue which stands proudly on a rocky outcrop surrounded by its native vegetation. The caribou was the regiment’s emblem and today it towers above the old trenches, looking out over no man’s land towards the German lines.
These trenches are some of the best preserved still remaining today and it is easy to follow the line the men took as they advanced down the hill towards the Germans. A lone dead tree, known as the ‘danger tree’ still stands: it was a particularly lethal area.
At the bottom of the slope, you reach the German lines with their trenches and ‘Y’ ravine which they used as shelter and for access to the front. Here there is a fine memorial statue of a proud Highlander, in homage to the 51st Highland Division who captured the village of Beaumont Hamel on 13th November 1916. There are also 3 small military cemeteries within the park.
There is a good museum on the site, manned by young clean-cut Canadian volunteers. It is quite strange to be greeted in English as you walk in. Nearby you will find the memorial to the 29th Division, with its distinctive red triangle emblem.
Leaving the park, the walk takes you to Beaumont Hamel and out again on tracks over undulating pastoral land, passing a couple of British cemeteries.
Soon you find yourself dropping into a leafy sunken lane and you might spot little memorial crosses. On 1st July 1916, the Argyll and Sutherland regiment waited here before attacking a German position on a nearby hill. Today Beaumont Hamel cemetery stands neatly between the 2 points showing the difficulties they faced and indeed when you look over the ground today it is hard to imagine the courage required to advance on such a position. Their adjacent memorial features a Celtic cross.
A leafy track finally leads back to the starting point at Auchonvillers and the end of a very moving and interesting walk.
Guidebook: TopoGuides: Dans les traces de la Grande Guerre en Picardie.. a pied. Walk number 35 Circuit du Caribou (Also available in English). Length: 8 km. Time: 2:40. Total ascent: 67 m.