06 July 2015

The Somme

1 July 1916 was the first day of the Battle of the Somme. While no Canadian infantry were involved the 1st Newfoundland Regiment, attached to a British division, had 324 killed and 386 wounded out of a total of 801 soldiers at Beaumont Hamel.
1 July 2016 will see a joint Anglo-French memorial service at the Thiepval Memorial in France. 8,000 tickets will allocated in pairs, free of charge, through a public online ballot open to residents of the UK, France and Ireland starting on 28 September 2015.
Apparently no provision is being made for residents of Canada, including Newfoundlanders, who may have had soldier family members in the Battle to apply. Why?
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1 comment:

  1. Anonymous06 July, 2015 17:45

    Thank you for pointing this out. I assume there will be a special memorial service at Beaumont Hamel next year, as there was in 2006. I know people who want to be there. Surely the governments involved will try to coordinate the two services so that people who wish to can attend both and onc can hope that some British and French officials will be participating in both. Or am I being naive?
    Elizabeth

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