Beaumont-Hamel

The Capture of Beaumont-Hamel was a tactical incident that took place during the Battle of the Somme (1 July – 18 November 1916) in the Battle of the Ancre (13–18 November) during the second British attempt to take the village. Beaumont-Hamel is a commune in the Somme department of Picardy in northern France. The village had been attacked on 1 July, the First Day of the Somme. The German 2nd Army (General Fritz von Below) defeated the attack, inflicting many British and Newfoundland Regiment casualties. On 1 July 1916, the 29th Division attacked at 7:20 a.m., ten minutes after a 40,000 lb (18 long tons; 18 t) mine under the Hawthorn Ridge Redoubt had been blown. The explosion alerted the Germans nearby, who occupied the far lip of the crater and pinned down British troops in no man's land on either side, where they were caught by German artillery-fire. White German signal rockets were mistaken for success flares and the 88th Brigade, including the Newfoundland Regiment, advanced from 200 yd (180 m) behind the British front line. The few parties that crossed no man's land found uncut wire. Reserve Infantry Regiment 119 had been in deep dugouts (Stollen) and emerged to defeat the attack. The Newfoundlanders suffered 710 casualties, of the 29th Division total of 5,240 casualties. By early November, the British in the south were ready to attack northwards towards the Ancre river, simultaneous with an attack eastwards on the north side of the river to capture Beaumont-Hamel and Serre-lès-Puisieux. On 13 November, during the Battle of the Ancre in thick fog, the 51st (Highland) Division outflanked Beaumont-Hamel on both sides and forced the garrison to surrender. Infantry and artillery co-operation was conspicuously superior to 1 July; barrages were better aimed and more destructive, cut off the German front line from the rear and neutralised German guns; mopping up parties had been given specific objectives in the German defences. The defenders were exhausted before the battle began and where the British artillery had cut the wire, were unable to repulse the attack. The defenders of Beaumont-Hamel repulsed a frontal attack by the Highlanders but were surrounded in the fog and surrendered later in the day.

The Beaumont Hamel British Cemetery is a cemetery located in the Somme region of France commemorating British and Commonwealth soldiers who fought in the Battle of the Somme in World War I. The cemetery contains mainly those who died on 1 July 1916 during the first Allied attack on the village of Beaumont-Hamel and in subsequent operations in the area until February 1917.

Y Ravine Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission burial ground for the dead of World War I situated on the grounds of Beaumont Hamel Newfoundland Memorial Park near the French town of Beaumont-Hamel.

Hunter's Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission burial ground for the dead of World War I situated on the grounds of Beaumont Hamel Newfoundland Memorial Park near the French town of Beaumont-Hamel.

Hawthorn Ridge Cemetery No. 2 is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission burial ground for the dead of World War I situated on the grounds of the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial near the French town of Beaumont-Hamel.

The Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial is a memorial site in France dedicated to the commemoration of Dominion of Newfoundland forces members who were killed during World War I. The 74-acre (300,000 m2) preserved battlefield park encompasses the grounds over which the Newfoundland Regiment made their unsuccessful attack on 1 July 1916 during the first day of the Battle of the Somme.The Battle of the Somme was the regiment's first major engagement, and during an assault that lasted approximately 30 minutes the regiment was all but wiped out. Purchased in 1921 by the people of Newfoundland, the memorial site is the largest battalion memorial on the Western Front, and the largest area of the Somme battlefield that has been preserved. Along with preserved trench lines, there are a number of memorials and cemeteries contained within the site. Officially opened by British Field Marshal Earl Haig in 1925, the memorial site is one of only two National Historic Sites of Canada located outside Canada; the other is the Canadian National Vimy Memorial. Both sites are administered by the Veterans Affairs Canada. The memorial site and experience of the Newfoundland Regiment at Beaumont-Hamel has come to represent the Newfoundland First World War experience. As a result, it has become a Newfoundland symbol of sacrifice and a source of identity. Since September 2023 the site has been a World Heritage Site being one of 139 locations included in the newly inscribed Funerary and memory sites of the First World War (Western Front).

The 51st (Highland) Division Memorial at Beaumont-Hamel is a memorial in France commemorating the soldiers of the 51st (Highland) Division killed during World War I. The memorial is located near Y Ravine on the 84-acre (340,000 m2) Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial site. This position had been the scene of the Division's first major victory on 13 November 1916 during the Battle of the Ancre, the closing stage of the Battle of the Somme.

The Ancre British Cemetery is a cemetery located in the Somme region of France commemorating British and Commonwealth soldiers who fought in the Battle of the Somme in World War I. The cemetery contains mainly those who died on 1 July 1916 during the first Allied attack on the village of Beaumont-Hamel, on 3 September 1916 during the second Allied attack on the village, and on 13 November 1916 during the capture of the village and the nearby towns of Beaucourt-sur-Ancre and St. Pierre-Divion.

Queens Cemetery (originally known as Queens V Corps Cemetery No 4) is a cemetery near the French commune of Puisieux, Pas-de-Calais, managed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.It is located near to the Sheffield Memorial Park and a number of other small military cemeteries including the Luke Copse British Cemetery, Railway Hollow Cemetery and Serre Road Cemetery, No.3. It was designed Noel Ackroyd Rew.The cemetery is located on what was the front line of the British forces during July 1916 at the Battle of the Somme. In early to mid 1917, the Somme and Ancre battlefields were cleared by V Corps and a number of new cemeteries were made including Queens Cemetery.The First World War graves date from July 1916 through to February 1917 and are from the 31st, 3rd and 19th Divisions. There are 311 burials, with 181 having been identified as being from the United Kingdom and 130 are unidentified.

Serre-lès-Puisieux is a village in the commune of Puisieux in the Pas-de-Calais department in Hauts-de-France in northern France.

Auchonvillers is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Its name seems to come from an old German man's name Alko (hypocoristic for a name starting Alk-) or similar (who invaded with the Franks in the 5th century AD), and Latin villare ("[land] belonging to a villa, farm").

Beaucourt-sur-l'Ancre (French pronunciation: [bokuʁ syʁ lɑ̃kʁ], literally Beaucourt on the Ancre; Picard: Bieucourt-su-l'Inke) is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France.