Quote:
Originally posted by Geoff Winnington-Ball
Just watched a two hour special on the ceremonies commemorating the 90th anniversary of the battle of Beaumont Hamel...
For those of you not in the loop here, Google 'Royal Newfoundland Regiment' and 'Beaumont Hamel'. 801 went in and next morning, 68 were on parade.
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And not only that, every single Newfoundland Officer in that action was killed or wounded.
The first day of what was to become the First Battle of the Somme was the worst day for Empire casualities in WW1, with over 57,000 on the one day, and 19,240 of those killed. Australian troops were comitted on 23 July in their first action on the Western Front, after Gallipoli. By the end of the campaign in Nov 1916, Britain and her Allies had 420,000 casualities and nearly 100,000 dead.
The losses decimated Britain's Volunteer Army, with many of the "Pals' Battallions" annhilated. Conscription followed in Britain. The first of three referendums during the war on the question of conscription occurred in Australia following the 1st Somme Battle. Each were defeated, and Australia remained a volunteer Army.