Newfoundland, Memory and the Somme

Join historian Julia Laite as she explores Newfoundland’s experience of the First World War and the lasting legacy of Beaumont Hamel.

At 9.15am on 1 July 1916, the opening day of the Battle of the Somme, the Newfoundland Regiment advanced at Beaumont Hamel as part of the third wave of attack. Within minutes, devastating German machine-gun fire had cut down much of the regiment before it crossed no-man’s land.

The following morning, only 68 men answered the roll call. It was one of the greatest proportional losses suffered by any regiment during the First World War.

News of the events at Beaumont Hamel reverberated deeply across Newfoundland, as people mourned lost brothers, sons and fathers. More than a century later, memory of the battle continues to shape Newfoundland identity and collective remembrance.

In this talk, Julia Laite will discuss Newfoundland’s experience of the First World War and examine the enduring legacy of Beaumont Hamel in public memory, commemoration and Newfoundland’s history.

Image: Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial by Adam Jones, CC BY 2.0

About the speaker

Julia Laite is Professor of History at Birkbeck, University of London, and has been part of the History Workshop collective since 2015. Her research focuses on gender and women’s history, migration and labour history, and historical methodology.

She is the author of several widely acclaimed works, including ‘The Disappearance of Lydia Harvey’ (2021), which won the Golden Dagger for Non-Fiction from the British Crimes Writers’ Association. Her current research project, ‘The Island of Lost Names’, explores the history of colonial Newfoundland and the Beothuk people.