This evocative memorial preserves part of the Western Front in the state it was in at fighting's end. The zigzag trench system, which still fills with mud in winter, is clearly visible, as are countless shell craters and the remains of barbed-wire barriers. A path leads to an orientation table at the top of the 'Caribou mound', where a bronze caribou statue is surrounded by plants native to Newfoundland. Beaumont-Hamel is 9km north of Albert; follow the signs for 'Memorial Terreneuvien'.
The memorial to the 29th Division, to which the volunteer Royal Newfoundland Regiment belonged, stands at the entrance of the site. On 1 July 1916 this regiment stormed entrenched German positions and was nearly wiped out; until recently, a plaque at the entrance noted bluntly that 'strategic and tactical miscalculations led to a great slaughter'. Canadian students based at the Welcome Centre , which resembles a Newfoundland fisher's house, give free guided tours in French or English (except from mid-December to mid-January).
