Population (2010) 188 Local time Wednesday 6:18 AM | Area 8.31 km² | |
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Intercommunality Communauté de communes du Pays du Coquelicot Weather 6°C, Wind SW at 27 km/h, 86% Humidity | ||
Beaumont-Hamel is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France.
Map of 80300 Beaumont-Hamel, France
During the First World War, Beaumont-Hamel was close to the front line, near many attacks, especially during the Battle of the Somme, one of the largest allied offensives of the war. By 1918 the village had been almost totally destroyed.
The banks of white chalk at Beaumont Hamel led to a sector of British trenches being nicknamed "White City". To the west of the village was Hawthorn Ridge Redoubt, one of the sites of the mines exploded on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. On 1 July 1916, nearly 700 men of the Newfoundland Regiment (later to become the Royal Newfoundland Regiment) were killed or injured by German fire when they were ordered "over the top" by their officers. Newfoundland commemorates this event as Memorial Day on 1 July each year.