Danger Tree

The Danger Tree is an infamous memorial to the Royal Newfoundland Regiment who went into battle on the first day of the Battle of the Somme in World War I, 1 July 1916. It is merely a replica of the remains of a tree trunk, but it marks the spot where the casualties were highest. It is in the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial Park, 9km north of the town of Albert, Somme, France.

On the first day of the Somme, 801 soldiers of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment rose from the British trenches and went into battle at Beaumont Hamel. The next day, only 68 men answered the regimental roll call. 255 were dead, 386 were wounded, and 91 were listed as missing. Every officer who had gone over the top was either wounded or dead.

The Danger Tree was used as the spot where the Newfoundlanders were ordered to gather once they got into No-Man's Land. From there they would receive a new plan of action. However, nobody had realised that the Germans could easily see the tree and concentrated their fire there, thus killing the troops who reached that spot. It is rumoured that nobody made it past the tree alive on the first day of the Somme campaign.

Nowadays, a cluster of small trees grow next to the bare trunk of the Danger Tree, and they are believed to have grown from the same root system as the original Tree.

The tree is approximately 110 meters from the front line on the far side.

Further reading

cite book
last =Macfarlane
first =David
title =The Danger Tree
publisher =Walker & Company
date =2001
location =Canada
pages =320
isbn = ISBN 978-0802776167