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Mesnil-Martinsart

Communes of Somme (department)Pages with French IPAPéronne arrondissement geography stubs
Mesnil Martinsart
Mesnil Martinsart

Mesnil-Martinsart (French pronunciation: [menil maʁtɛ̃saʁ]) is a commune in the Somme département in Hauts-de-France in northern France.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Mesnil-Martinsart (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Mesnil-Martinsart
Rue du Château, Péronne

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Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 50.0544 ° E 2.6492 °
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Address

Rue du Château

Rue du Château
80300 Péronne
Hauts-de-France, France
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Mesnil Martinsart
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Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial
Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial

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).

Capture of Beaumont-Hamel
Capture of 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.