Newfoundland soldier who died in the First World War laid to rest at home

By The Canadian Press on July 1, 2024.

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Hundreds of people gathered in Newfoundland and Labrador’s capital city this morning to pay their respects to a soldier who has finally returned home from the battlefields of France after more than 100 years.

The unknown Newfoundland soldier was laid to rest in a black granite tomb at the National War Memorial in St. John’s.

The ceremony to mark his reinterment, which was attended by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Gov. Gen. Mary Simon, coincided with the 100th anniversary of the unveiling of the war memorial.

Today is Canada Day in the rest of the country, but in Newfoundland and Labrador, July 1 begins as Memorial Day.

It’s a time to remember the hundreds of young men from the Newfoundland Regiment who died during the disastrous battle at Beaumont-Hamel, in northern France, at a time when Newfoundland was not yet part of Canada.

About 800 members of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment charged over the top of the trenches on the morning of July 1, 1916, armed with only rifles and bayonets, toward the Germans’ machine-gun fire, and only 68 made it to roll call the next morning. The rest were killed, wounded or declared missing.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 1, 2024.

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