It was a magnificent display of trained and disciplined valour,

and its assault had only failed of success because dead men can advance no further.

This was the account of an officer of the newfoundland regiment after the

attack at beaumont hamill on the first day of the battle of the son and this week we're going to

explore the newfoundland memorial park welcome to the old front line with me, military historian Paul Reed.

Each week I give you a glimpse into the history of the Great War

and we travel together across the battlefields from Epe to the Somme and beyond.

So once more let's get our pack and strap on our boots and head to the sun.

Newfoundland was the smallest colony in the British Empire to raise its own regiment in the Great War,

the Newfoundland Regiment, later the Royal Newfoundland Regiment. It was granted

that title in 1917. Today Newfoundland is part of Canada, but in the time of the First World War,

it wasn't, and its men did not join the Canadian Expeditionary Force. So in terms of the Great War,

these men were not Canadians. This was not a Canadian regiment. The Newfoundland Regiment was actually a terms of the Great War, these men were not Canadians. This was not a Canadian regiment.

The Newfoundland Regiment was actually a regiment of the British Army and the only regiment of the British Army to be given a royal status, a royal title while the war was still on.

As we'll discover, such was the loss amongst these men here on the first day of the Battle of the Somme that there was a desire to purchase this ground to preserve it as the place where Newfoundland had made its greatest sacrifice in the Great War. Today, it's probably one of the most, if not the most visited place on the Somme, if not indeed,

along the entire British sector of the Western Front. We'll begin our own visits virtually here

today at the entrance to the park, and we'll see a stone wall and some very large boulders

that were brought here from Newfoundland after the war as a reminder of home.

A plaque on the wall recalls the fact that Sir Douglas Hague unveiled the park,

inaugurated the park in 1925.

And as we come in through the entrance, if you came here yourself, at this point you would meet a young Canadian student.

Newfoundland is now part of Canada and the park is managed by the Canadian Veterans Affairs.

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