Newfoundland marks 100 years since carnage that launched Somme campaign

CTV National News: Fallen soldiers remembered Soldiers killed in the devastating ground assault were remembered in Newfoundland and abroad. Melanie Nagy reports.

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. -- There were tears of pride, loss and remembrance as huge crowds gathered Friday to mark 100 years since the Newfoundland Regiment's slaughter at Beaumont-Hamel shook the former British dominion to its core.

July 1, 1916, was the disastrous launch of the Somme campaign in the First World War.

About 800 members of the Newfoundland Regiment, armed only with rifles and bayonets, were ordered to face German machine gun fire. Just 68 answered roll call the next morning.

"It was that profound sacrifice and the way it hit people," said Colin Cox, whose two great-uncles fought in the First World War.

"They didn't think they were going to die in some foreign land. They thought they were going to come home," he said, fighting tears.

"None of them ever thought that was going to be their final destination."

Cox, who retired from the Canadian Air Force in 2011, had two sons marching Friday with what's now known as the Royal Newfoundland Regiment.

His wife, Helen, also cried talking about how much the day of commemoration meant. They drove about 45 minutes from their home in Avondale to be in St. John's.

"I'm just so proud of my husband and my two sons," she said. "They're following in the footsteps of their forefathers, making them proud as well."

The awful toll of July 1, 1916, is difficult to comprehend, she said.

"For so many people to lose their lives, and then their families had to continue on without them."

The staggering numbers of dead and wounded sent shock waves across the island of Newfoundland, then a British dominion with a population of about 240,000. Church bells rang out in unison across the province Friday at 8:45 a.m. local time, the moment the troops were whistled over the top.

King George V in 1917 added the extraordinary prefix "Royal" to recognize the volunteer regiment's courage, skill and valour.

Newfoundland MP Seamus O'Regan drew heartfelt applause with an impassioned speech denying Beaumont-Hamel reduced the men to "colonial cannon fodder" sacrificed by indifferent generals.

"The men of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment did not shrink from their duty," he said. "They were fully aware of what faced them when they went over the top; fully aware of the machine guns, the artillery, the snipers that awaited them as they tried to cross into no man's land."

Journals kept by those soldiers underscore their resolve, O'Regan said.

"You do not read the thoughts of men unwilling to face what they knew inevitable. You read the thoughts of men who refused to even consider letting down the man next to them, even consider letting down their families at home -- refused to consider letting down their country. That's Newfoundland."

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also paid tribute to Beaumont-Hamel from Ottawa before heading to Canada Day celebrations on Parliament Hill.

"July 1, 1916, marked a pivotal moment in time, a moment that has since entrenched itself in Newfoundland and Labrador identity and history. And, as we gather here, we take firm pause to remember this sombre event and recognize its importance in shaping and defining the Newfoundland of today," he said.

"This would become the bloodiest battle of the war. Our men rose with courage, fought like lions and died as heroes. The deaths touched many families across the dominion of Newfoundland -- a generation of young men lost."

Those losses reverberate to this day. Newfoundland's massive war debt combined with the Depression helped pave the way for its loss of self-governance in 1934 and its narrow vote to join Canada in 1949.

Princess Anne, colonel-in-chief of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, laid a wreath of remembrance during Friday's ceremony in St. John's, but did not speak.

As the Princess mingled with veterans, many said they hadn't seen a bigger public turnout in years.

"God love them," said Doug England, 85, who served with the Royal Canadian Engineers in the Korean War.

"That's something isn't it," he said as he gazed at the lines of onlookers stretched far past where they could actually see the ceremony.

Charles Furey, 71, of St. John's, struggled Friday to walk to the War Memorial, but he wouldn't have missed honouring the men who laid down their lives, he said.

"The poor boys. They were so young. They shouldn't have been over there in the first place."

Furey said he never misses the memorial services that start each Canada Day in the province before the mood shifts to celebration.

"As long as I can walk, I'm coming down here."