The 110th ceremony of remembrance for the Royal Newfoundland Regiment (RNR) and the Battle of Beaumont-Hamel/Somme was held on July 1st, 2026, at the National War Memorial in Ottawa, on a beautiful, warm summer’s morning.
To see the gallery of the pictures, CLICK HERE:
Just prior to the start of the ceremony, the area did cloud over giving a portent of things to come later in the day, but the clouds receded and the day started warm and humid as was promised by the weather man with the day aiming to be in the mid-30s and mid-40s with the humidity. Later that afternoon/evening, Ottawa saw 118 mm of rain over six hours obliterating the Canada Day celebrations. It only goes to prove, once again, that God loves the Newfoundlanders.
Any requests for pictures should be sent to Royal Newfoundland Regiment Advisory Council at rnradvisorycouncil@gmail.com to the attention of Col. (ret’d) Gregory Burt.
The 1st of July is a day of remembrance first in Newfoundland and a day to celebrate Canada second. In the First World War, the Dominion of Newfoundland supplied 8,707 men to the three Dominion services including the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, the Royal Newfoundland Naval Reserve, and the Newfoundland Forestry Corps. As well 3,296 men volunteered for the Canadian Expeditionary Force, 21 were known to be in the Royal Flying Corp/Royal Air Force, and 175 women served overseas in nursing and aid stations. In all, 36% of men of military age (19-35) went to war.
Beaumont-Hamel is significant in that the men of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment (RNR) went “over the top” on this day at about 0915 hrs in 1916 and 30 minutes later, only remnants remained. They left from a support trench (St. John’s Trench) which was 200 metres behind the jump off point because the dead and wounded from previous waves clogged the way to the front. After this, it was another 500 metres to the enemy through a no-man’s land criss-crossed with enemy machine gun fire. “It was a magnificent display of trained and disciplined valour and its assault only failed of success because dead men can advance no further.” said LGen Sir Aylmer Gould Hunter-Weston.
While figures vary, the RNR website lists: Killed In Action – 14 officers and 219 other ranks, wounded – 12 officers and 374 other ranks and 91 missing. Out of 721 who were committed to the battle only 68 were able to answer the roll call the next morning (85% casualties). Every officer who went into battle was either killed or wounded. Some of the dead were killed trying to crawl back to their own lines from no-man’s land as they had been made to wear metal triangles on their backs, so command could monitor their forward progress. As they crawled back, the sun reflected off the metal making them easy targets for enemy snipers and many were killed. It would be two weeks before the people in Newfoundland heard of the disaster.
The ceremony was hosted by the Royal Newfoundland Regiment Advisory Council and MC’d by Col (ret’d) Gregory Burt who started the ceremony by welcoming everyone and then retracing Newfoundland’s history and sacrifice during “The Great War”. Of special note were the facts that 14 sets of brothers perished in the attempt including four members of the Ayre family of St. John’s. It should be mentioned that in this ceremony, all the participants have some tie back to Newfoundland with most having ancestors who fought/died at Beaumont-Hamel. For example, BGen. Vanessa Hanrahan was born in Newfoundland as was Colonel Howard Coombs and Senator Iris Petten, all wreath layers in this ceremony. Colonel Coombs lost many relatives in the First World War.
The Act of Remembrance was spoken by Mr. Bill Black and Mr. Wayne Mac Culloch (CAVUNP) followed by the Commitment to Remember by Miss Arya Burt. Seventeen wreaths were laid in total with the first by Dr. Carol Gardner-Kirby for those who died with their resting place unknown, then MP Maire-France Lalonde for Canada followed by Senator Rebecca Patterson for the Senate of Canada. BGen. Vanessa Hanrahan and CWO Renay Groves did the honours for the CAF and Colonel Howard Coombs for the Royal Newfoundland Regiment. Miss Arya Burt and Miss Claire Kenny carried the wreath for the Youth of Newfoundland and Labrador with the Memorial University of Newfoundland represented by Mr. Mark Barnes and Gillianne Beaulieu. Australia, New Zealand and France also laid wreaths as did the Royal Canadian Legion and veterans groups.
The star of the show, however, was Ms. Joan Fisher who laid the wreath on behalf of the Atlantic Voices Choir along with the choir mascot, an eighteen month old Newfoundland dog, named “Cassie”. Cassie managed a small bow to the wreath during the moment of reflection after the wreath laying which was surprising given her young age. (NOTE: Margaree used to do these duties but she has gotten older and doesn’t travel well anymore.)
The poem “Only One Tree” was read by CWO Renay Groves who was followed by The Atlantic Voices Choir singing all four verses of “Ode to Newfoundland” and “O Canada” to end the ceremony.
While Newfoundland would not become part of Canada until 1949, as part of Canada now, it is important to remember the sacrifices made on behalf of the allies of this small part of the British Empire. They mourn Newfoundland in the morning and celebrate Canada in the afternoon.
