And it is also Memorial Day in Newfoundland (which only became part of Canada in 1949). In World War 1 the small colony of Newfoundland (population 240,000) fielded a full strength battalion (known as the Royal Newfoundland Regiment today, they were called the Blue Puttees during the war). On July 1st as part of the Battle of the Somme offensive launched by the British High Command the RNR were tasked with taking Beaumont-Hamel. The force was annihilated, only 68 able-bodied men (out of a force of over 800) mustered the following morning. Over the course of the war around 8,000 men were enlisted and they had casualties in excess of 4,600 killed and wounded.
Newfoundland took such heavy casualties during WWI, they fought in Gallipoli as well as along the Western Front, that Britain exempted them from sending troops during WWII, though many volunteers joined up with the Canadian and/or British military as well as volunteered with the Merchant Marine.
The University that I (along with a number of other folks on this site) graduated from is called Memorial University of Newfoundland, it is the largest living memorial to World War I. It was originally commissioned by the British government as a college to help reestablish an educated pool of young adults to help run the colony because a large portion of the generation of educated young men (the sons of the merchants) were killed in the war.
Thought I would toss out an educational blurb too :>
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Show Media Item - Happy Canada Day!
