Beaumont-Hamel

Beaumont-Hamel
Location of Beaumont-Hamel
Country	France
Region	Hauts-de-France
Department	Somme
Arrondissement	Péronne
Canton	Albert
Intercommunality	Communauté de communes du Pays du Coquelicot
Government
• Mayor (2001–2008)	Bernard Omiel
Area 1	8.31 km2 (3.21 sq mi)
Population  (2010)	188
• Density	23/km2 (59/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	80069 /80300
Elevation	70–148 m (230–486 ft) (avg. 75 m or 246 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Beaumont-Hamel is a commune in the Somme department in Picardy in northern France.

During the First World War, Beaumont-Hamel was very close to the front lines of the conflict and saw heavy combat, especially during the Battle of the Somme which was the largest Allied offensive of the entire war. By 1918 the village was almost totally destroyed. West of the village was Hawthorn Ridge Redoubt, one of the sites of the mines exploded on the first day of the Battle of the Somme.

July 1,1916, nearly 700 men of the Newfoundland Regiment (later to become the Royal Newfoundland Regiment) were killed or injured by German soldiers when they were ordered "over the top" by British officers. Newfoundland commemorates this event as Memorial Day on July 1 each year.

The fields around Beaumont-Hamel after the Battle of the Somme.

See also

• Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial

References

• INSEE