Station 1: Image gallery – Blue Puttees

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No. 4 Platoon, Section 16.

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An enemy shell bursting at Beaumont Hamel, 1916.

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Barbed wire at Beaumont-Hamel, 1916.

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Pictured here are Newfoundland soldiers in the St. John’s Road support trench (named after their capital City) before the start of the attack in 1916. This trench had been dug mostly by the Newfoundlanders soon after their arrival in France in May 1916.

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Soldiers of the Newfoundland Regiment prepare for a meal, at a training Camp in Scotland, 1915.

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Soldiers of the Newfoundland Regiment.

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Men washing at Newfoundland Regiment Camp, Scotland, 1915.

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Newfoundland Regiment soldiers, comforting one another and dealing with fear and grief on the front lines. Blue Puttees are shown on their legs.

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The puttee, is the name of the cloth covering the lower part of the leg. They are wound tightly and spirally round the leg. They served to provide both support and protection.
At the outbreak of the First World War, the Newfoundlanders had no military stores so their uniforms had to be made from scratch. In the absence of khaki cloth, their puttees were made from blue cloth. The Newfoundland Regiment was nicknamed "The Blue Puttees". Here are members of Platoon 1, First Newfoundland Regiment.

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The Newfoundland Regiment saw tough fighting at Beaumont-Hamel. Losses were high and the spirits of the men who survived were low.
Some Canadian soldiers wanted to cheer the Newfoundlanders up and offered them a canine friend. He was a large Newfoundland dog named Sable Chief.
Here is Sable Chief, Regimental Mascot With Private Hazen Fraser his handler.

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Sable Chieft became an important part of the regimental family, and marched with the Royal Newfoundland Regiment band.
Not only did he keep in step with the marching but it is said that he would even respectfully stand still at the playing of the Newfoundland anthem.

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Sable Chief, as the regimental mascot also visited wounded troops. Here he is with his handler Private Hazen Fraser, a wounded soldier and nursing sisters in London, 1917.
He was a large dog of more than 150 pounds and his size attracted a lot of positive attention! The furry friend really boosted the spirit of the regiment.

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The Danger Tree
This is a petrified tree on an embankment that represents the so-called ‘Danger Tree’ where many of the Newfoundlanders had gravitated towards when their advance on the German’s was stopped by a storm of bullets and shrapnel.
The tree had been an easily identifiable spot where the troops gathered during the First World War battle.
The raging war around it eventually reduced the tree to a sparse tree trunk. The gnarled tree has come to serve as a potent reminder of the great destruction on that day. This symbolic landmark has been preserved at the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial.