Volume 24 www.legionnl.com 37 Newfoundland Labrador Command On 1 July 1916, 801 Newfoundlanders rose up out of the trenches at Beaumont-Hamel, France to attack German forces in what is known as the “Battle of the Somme.” Only 68 Newfoundlanders answered the roll call on July 2nd. A generation of Newfoundland’s finest young men were wiped out. Over 800 Newfoundlanders and Labradorians lie in European military graves marked, Known Unto God. After years of planning, an unknown Newfoundland solider fromWorld War 1 began his long journey home to Newfoundland from a military cemetery in France. Because the solider is unknown, the Premier of the Province has been named his next of kin and accepted the remains on behalf of the people of the Province. Canada has two National War Memorials, one in Ottawa and the other in St. John’s. This is because, when the Newfoundland memorial was built, Newfoundland was a separate Dominion in the British Empire. The French government agreed to the transfer and handed over the remains in a casket at the memorial site in Beaumont-Hamel. Members of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment accepted the coffin from the French Army and boarded a plane to return to Canada. As the aircraft neared the coast of Newfoundland, RCAF CF-18 fighters escorted the plane into Canadian airspace and assured its safe landing at St. John’s International Airport. A new crypt was built to hold the Unknown in front of the National Memorial. Unknown Newfoundland Soldier Written by By James B. Stanton, BA (Hons), MA, CD continued ...
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