In a number of places on the Western Front the former battlefields have been preserved in their “natural” state, with shell holes, bunkers, craters and trench lines still remaining. These sites are beacons for visitors, as they provide opportunities to see the battlefields in a similar state to the soldiers who fought there. A number of these sites also have specific importance to Australians.
 

Newfoundland Memorial Park, Beaumont-Hamel

This park is one of the most visited sites on the entire Western Front, as the large number of tour buses parked outside can attest to. The Newfoundland Regiment attacked here on the morning on July 1, 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme. On this infamous day the British suffered 60,000 casualties, including 20,000 dead – the worst disaster ever to befall the British army.

The Newfoundlanders attacked at 8.30am, an hour after an attack had already failed at the same location. The communication trenches leading to the front were so clogged with dead and wounded that the Newfoundlanders could not reach their front line trench, and were ordered to begin their advance from their support trenches. They suffered horrendous casualties from machine-gun, rifle and shell fire before even reaching their own front line. Those fortunate enough to reach the front line were mown down soon after entering No-Man’s Land. The battalion went into the battle with 801 men – only 68 answered the roll call at the end of the day.

An area of the old battlefield has been retained approximately as it was that fateful day. Although grassed over, the land is still pocked with shell holes and trench lines snake in all directions. An isolated tree midway across the old No-Man’s Land, known ominously as the “Danger Tree”, marks the point of the furthest advance of the Newfoundlanders.

Until recently, visitors were free to wander all over the park, through the British trenches, across No-Man’s Land and into the German lines. Fencing has now been erected, however, and access is restricted to a few British trenches, and a well-worn path across No-Man’s Land.

However, the park remains one of the few locations on the former battlefields where a full trench system still remains, where support, reserve, communication and front line trenches (both British and German) can all be seen.
 

Sheffield Memorial Park, Serre

This park is located on the northern part of the July 1, 1916 battlefield, and commemorates the Sheffield “Pals” battalion who attacked near here that day. The park is actually about 100 metres short of the Sheffield sector of the line – it was actually the Pals from Accrington who attacked here.

This small piece of land and the four nearby cemeteries neatly reveal the tragedy of the July 1 attack. The park contains grassed-over shell holes and the shallow line of the trench from which the Pals attacked on July 1. About 200 metres away, up a gradual slope, were the German trenches, well defended by wire and machine guns. At 7.30am on the morning of the attack, the Pals emerged from the front line trench and marched, as instructed, in parade-ground formation towards the Germans. They were mown down as they crossed No-Man’s Land.

Today three cemeteries, Luke Copse, Queens and Serre Road No. 3 lie in the middle of the old No-Man’s Land, containing the bodies of those who were buried where they fell. A fourth cemetery, Railway Hollow, named after a light railway that once ran through the area, also contains the remains of many men killed on July 1.

If the fields are clear of crops, it is a good idea to walk from the Sheffield Park front line trench, past Queens Cemetery a similar distance to the length of the access path. This brings you to the approximate position of the German front line. Looking back towards the park, the commanding views afforded to the Germans are obvious and it is little wonder the British advance faltered.
 

Australian Memorial Park, Le Hamel

On July 4, 1998, after almost forty years of lobbying by the respected Australian military historian John Laffin, the Australian Memorial Park was opened on the slopes above Le Hamel. The park commemorates the five Australian divisions who served during the war, and occupies ground in which old trench lines, captured and then occupied by the Australians, still remain.

The park is best visited as the final stop on the organised self-drive tour of the Villers-Bretonneaux/Hamel battlefields, details of which are available from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs or by clicking here.

As well as its impressive black granite memorial, the park also features illustrated plaques which highlight elements of the battle, and indicate other sites of interest nearby, including the crash site of Baron Von Richthofen, the “Red Baron”.