8 stories to help reflect on the 99th anniversary of Beaumont-Hamel
If you're from Newfoundland and Labrador, you probably know that July 1 is a bittersweet day, with both celebrations for Canada Day as well as memorials for those killed from the Newfoundland Regiment at the Battle of Beaumont-Hamel.
With the national holiday, there are lots of ways to celebrate the Great White North — but perhaps some people aren't sure how to take some time to reflect on Memorial Day and pay respects.
Many communities around Newfoundland and Labrador will hold services to honour those who fell during the First World War. Here are eight stories on Newfoundland's legacy in The Great War that can help to put it all in perspective.
You can click the headlines below to get the full report for each feature.
Allan Hawco, Mark Critch to trace steps of Newfoundland Regiment in new documentary
Actor Allan Hawco and comedian Mark Critch are currently shooting The Trail of the Caribou, a CBC production which is taking them through Turkey, France and Belgium, following in the footsteps of the regiment during its campaigns in the Great War.
"A lot of people know about Beaumont-Hamel," said Hawco. "What people often forget is that the Newfoundland Regiment went on a number of very successful campaigns and had quite a legendary status in the allied forces during the First World War."
The film is on track to premiere on CBC during the 100th anniversary of Beaumont-Hamel on July 1, 2016.
Old WW I monument discovered in resettled community, gets full restoration
While on patrol along the shores of Merasheen Island last summer, several fish and wildlife officers came across the dilapidated monument in the resettled community of Little Bona.
They soon realized it had been erected in commemoration of Pte. Michael John White of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, and decided to get it restored 100 years later.
$3.2-million donation to help create Canada's largest WW I exhibit
People in Newfoundland and Labrador will soon be able to really connect with the province's history after a $3.2-million donation was made to The Rooms to help launch the country's largest First World War exhibit.
Elinor Gill Ratcliffe made the donation to help create the Royal Newfoundland Regiment Gallery, which will showcase this province's contribution to the war effort. The exhibit is set to open on July 1, 2016.
"Of course it feels privileged to be able to do that. I had the resources to be able to do it, I didn't think twice about doing it," she said.
First World War medal returned to soldier's family after seven decades
Leo Knox, 87, of St. John's, was recently reunited with a British First World War medal that belonged to his father's cousin, Royal Newfoundland Regiment Private William Roost.
Tom Rossiter of St. John's said Roost's medal was kept by his family for decades. Rossiter's father, Nicholas, discovered it in in the early 1940's, in a metal box left when a boarder at his mother's house in downtown St. John's passed away.
"I feel very emotional," said Knox. "You know, it brings back memories of my dad."
Filmmakers recreate Beaumont-Hamel in Makinsons for feature documentary
Award-winning filmmakers have recreated the battlegrounds of Beaumont Hamel in Makinsons, to shoot a feature documentary film
Newfoundland at Armageddon tells the story of the Newfoundland Regiment on the morning of July 1, 1916, when the soldiers moved towards German lines, and were almost entirely wiped out.
"We are going to make the best war documentary, I think, that's ever been made," said Brian McKenna, the film's writer and director.
Legacy of WW I soldiers marked by descendants in bronze masks
A sculptor in St. John's is honouring the memories of soldiers who fought in the First World War, by casting bronze masks of their legacy — the generation of their family living today.
"This is really a legacy for these family members. This is a way for them to say that they remember," said sculptor Morgan MacDonald.
"I wanted to find an outlet to re-tell these stories — to not just have the images we're familiar with, but to drill it down to a more personal, more one on one level."
WW I soldier descendants to be part of Beaumont Hamel film
Sian Ayre Evans and David Atkinson were recruited more than a year ago by Galafilm and Morag Loves Company for their co-production Newfoundland at Armageddon, a docu-drama about an infamous battle that claimed the lives of hundreds of Newfoundlanders.
"I don't really look at it as acting, I feel like it's more telling a story," said Ayre Evans.
"I'm learning and studying up on my family's history and I'm just excited to tell that side of the story."
Rezori: The true cost of the First World War
The "war to end all wars" may have started a century ago, but the impact of the Great War is being felt to this very day, writes Azzo Rezori.
"The true cost of the Great War is that we're still fighting it and will continue to for some time to come," he writes.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
