Today is Memorial Day in Newfoundland and Labrador

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

Today is Memorial Day in Newfoundland and Labrador. Memorial Day has been observed annually since July 1, 1917, to remember the losses of approximately 700 soldiers of the 1st Newfoundland Regiment from the Dominion of Newfoundland at Beaumont-Hamel on the first day on the Somme during the First World War.

During WWI, Newfoundland was a Dominion of the British Empire with a population of 240,000 and was not part of Canada.

Of the 780 men who went forward on that day only about 110 survived. Of those, only 68 were available for roll call the next day. The unit as a whole suffered a casualty rate of approximately 90%.

It is observed concurrently with Canada Day.