The Honourable Steve Crocker, Minister of Tourism, Culture, Arts and Recreation, will attend a ceremony at Newfoundland Memorial Park in Beaumont-Hamel, France, tomorrow (Friday, July 1) to commemorate the Battle of the Somme.

This morning, Minister Crocker joined the Royal Newfoundland Regiment and family members at the burial ceremony for Private John Lambert in West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. Private Lambert’s remains were discovered in 2016 along with two other First World War soldiers. His remains were identified in 2020, with the assistance of The Rooms Archives.

The Provincial Government continues to support the First World War contributions of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment in France and Belgium. The Trail of the Caribou, which consists of five bronze caribou statues in Beaumont-Hamel, Masnières, Gueudecourt, Monchy-le-Preux, and Courtrai (Kortrijk), Belgium, commemorates the bravery shown by Newfoundlanders during the First World War.

Annually, on July 1, Newfoundlanders and Labradorians remember and mourn the loss of life on the Beaumont-Hamel battlefield in 1916 and commemorate the contributions of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment to the First World War. In St. John’s, there are two monuments to the regiment: the Fighting Newfoundlander in Bowring Park and the Newfoundland National War Memorial, a National Historic Site, downtown between Water Street and Duckworth Street.

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“It is an honour to represent the province in Beaumont-Hamel and to pay respect to the fallen soldiers. Our province will forever be connected to France as we remember the bravery, patriotism and sacrifice of the Newfoundland Regiment during the First World War.”
Honourable Steve Crocker
Minister of Tourism, Culture, Arts and Recreation

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Media contact
Adrienne Luther
Tourism, Culture, Arts and Recreation
709-729-4819, 730-2953
adrienneluther@gov.nl.ca