The Western Front Today - 51st Division Monument, Beaumont-Hamel
The monument to the 51st
Highland Division is situated behind the small
Hunter's
cemetery within the
Newfoundland
Beaumont-Hamel Memorial Park. The monument was unveiled on Sunday
28 September 1924 by French Marshal
Ferdinand Foch,
the former Allied Supreme Commander. During the inauguration pipers of
the 2nd Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders played Flowers of the Forest.
The memorial (one of the most famous First World War monuments) commemorates the 51st Division's success in finally securing the area from German control on 13 November 1916.
References:
Before Endeavours Fade, Rose E.B. Coombs, After the Battle 1994
Major & Mrs Holt's Battlefield Guide - Somme, Leo Cooper 2000
A howitzer is any short cannon that delivers its shells in a high trajectory. The word is derived from an old German word for "catapult".
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