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Canadian Virtual War Memorial

John Thomas Doyle

In memory of:

Corporal John Thomas Doyle

July 1, 1916

Military Service


Service Number:

1014

Age:

25

Force:

Army

Unit:

Royal Newfoundland Regiment

Additional Information


Son of Edward and Lucy Doyle, of King's Cove, Bonavista.

Commemorated on Page 37 of the Newfoundland Book of Remembrance. Request a copy of this page. Download high resolution copy of this page.

Burial Information


Cemetery:

BEAUMONT-HAMEL (NEWFOUNDLAND) MEMORIAL
Somme, France

Grave Reference:

N/A

Location:

The largest of the battlefield parks established in memory of Newfoundlanders who fell in the First World War is Beaumont Hamel, nine kilometres directly north of the town of Albert. In BEAUMONT HAMEL MEMORIAL PARK, which was officially opened by Earl Haig on June 7, 1925, the monument of the great bronze caribou, emblem of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, stands on the highest point overlooking St John's Road and the slopes beyond. At the base of the statue three tablets of bronze carry the names of over 800 members of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, the Newfoundland Royal Naval Reserve, and the Mercantile Marine who gave their lives in the First World War and have no known grave. In the lodge, which houses the reception room for visitors to the Park, a bronze plaque, unveiled in 1961 by the Hon. Joseph Smallwood, Premier of Newfoundland, lists the Battle Honours won by the Royal Newfoundland Regiment and pays tribute to its fallen. The park is one of the few in France or Belgium where the visitor can see a Great War battlefield much as it was. The actual trenches are still there and something of the terrible problem of advancing over such country can be appreciated by the visitor. On the first day of the Battle of the Somme, no unit suffered heavier losses than the Newfoundland Regiment, which had gone into action 801 strong. When the roll call of the unwounded was taken next day, only 68 answered their names. The final figures that revealed the virtual annihilation of the Battalion gave a grim count of 233 killed or dead of wounds, 386 wounded, and 91 missing. Every officer who went forward in the Newfoundland attack was either killed or wounded.

Information courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Digital Collection

Send us your images

  • Photo of John Thomas Doyle– John Thomas Doyle of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment in uniform. He was killed in action , along with many in his regiment, on July 1st, 1916 at Beaumont-Hamel, France. He was an older brother of my grandfather, consequently, we know very little of him, however the attached photo has been in the family nearly 90 years. By submitting this photo to this site we are in a small way remembering a relative who made the supreme sacrifice for his country so many years ago.
Photo submitted by Gerald Joseph.
  • Inscription on Beaumont-Hamel Memorial

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