While a remembrance service is moving on its own, there are many in Newfoundland and Labrador today who still have a personal connection to Beaumont Hamel.
Wreaths were laid at memorials across the province and in France yesterday marking 103 years since the battle, and the beginning of the Somme.
At the Memorial Park in Beaumont Hamel itself it is said that 80 per cent of people from the province that visit can find a relative on the wall of remembrance.
St. John’s Mayor Danny Breen is one of those people. He laid the wreath for the city yesterday remembering all veterans, but he was thinking of his Uncle Jack.
On July 1st, Our Family remembers my Fathers oldest brother, our Uncle Jack Breen, Blue Puttee, Reg #67; Killed at Beaumont Hamel, 103 years ago at age 19. No known grave. pic.twitter.com/bhKZ8O6qrz
— Mayor Danny Breen (@DannyBreenNL) July 1, 2019
Breen says his father’s oldest brother enlisted at 19, but died at Beaumont Hamel and like many, was never recovered.
He says the day has special meaning not just for his family but for the loss shared by the whole province.