Lukewarm Media Takes

First, some historical context. Great Big Sea is a folk rock band from Newfoundland, Canada. Newfoundland (and Labrador) was the last of the provinces to join the country. They joined in part because of how badly they were impacted by WWI, specifically the Battle of Beaumont-Hamel. Great Big Sea's song Recruiting Sargent is about that history. This is an oversimplified explanation, but the important part is that WWI's effects on NFL were so devastating that it served as a catalyst for them eventually joining Canada.

Two recruiting sergeants came to the CLB For the sons of the merchants to join the Blue Puttees So all the hands enlisted, five hundred young men Enlist you Newfoundlanders, and come follow me

During WWI, Newfoundland was still an independent dominion of Britain. This means that when Britain joined the war, Newfoundland— like Canada —had automatically joined the war as well. Over 6,200 would be sent to war.

The "Blue Puttees" refers to the first Newfoundlander recruits sent to Britain. The nickname came from the odd colour of their puttees (a long strip of fabric that was wrapped around the lower leg, from the ankle to just below the knee).

They crossed the broad Atlantic in the brave Florizel On the sands of Suvla, they entered into hell And on those bloody beaches, the first of them fell Enlist you Newfoundlanders, and come follow me

The first battle Newfoundlanders were involved in was the Battle of Gallipoli (September 20, 1915). However, there wasn't much if any military breakthrough and the Allies decided to withdraw from Gallipoli and send the regiment to France by Spring of 1916. 30 men died in action and 10 more died of disease.

So it's over the mountains and over the sea Come brave Newfoundlanders and join the Blue Puttees You'll fight the hun in Flanders and at Gallipoli Enlist you Newfoundlanders, and come follow me

The chorus sounds like what the recruiting sergeants told the young men to get them to enlist. It also references their time in Gallipoli as well as the Battle of Beaumont-Hamel (which we'll get more into in one moment). I'm only gonna go over the chorus once because there's not much else to say about it. But it repeats four more times through the rest of the song.

The call came from London for the last July drive To the trenches with the regiment, prepare yourselves to die The roll call next morning, just a handful survived Enlist you Newfoundlanders, and come follow me

The Battle of Beaumont-Hamel was devastating for Britain and the Commonwealth. At 7:30AM on July 1st, 1916, British and French troops advanced through No Man's Land towards German positions. The following battle would result in the heaviest loss in combat that the British suffered in a single day; totalling 57,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers either killed, wounded or missing.

The section of the front at Beaumont-Hamel where the Newfoundland regiment would see action was intended to be an ambush, but the Germans knew about the attack. The initial artillery bombardment from the Allies also didn't damage the German defences nearly as much as they expected.

The Newfoundlanders (who formed part of the 29th British Division) started advancing at around 9:15AM. They were stationed in a trench about 200 meters behind the Allies' own front line due to the amount of dead and wounded soldiers clogging up the first trenches. There was a tree partway through No Man's Land that was nicknamed the "danger tree" as it was a point where the German fire got especially nasty. The regiment was nearly wiped out within thirty minutes.

Around 800 Newfoundlanders went to battle that morning. 68 were alive for roll call the next day. The dead and missing included 14 sets of brothers.

The stone men on Water Street still cry for the day When the Pride of the city went marching away A thousand men slaughtered to hear the King say Enlist you Newfoundlanders, and come follow me

Apparently I especially enjoyed diving into this memorial. Buckle up guys. I'll attach an image of the memorial below.

Of the 6,200-some men that were sent to fight, 1,300 lost their lives and another 2,500 were wounded or taken prisoner. Discussions of a memorial started almost as soon as the remaining men stepped foot in Newfoundland.

The Patriotic Association and The Great War Veteran's Association got together to find a way to "give expression to its gratitude and respect for those who during the Great War served King and Empire." By 1920, they jointly recommended a school be built in the fallen soldiers' memory as well as an at the time national war memorial.

The memorial statue (designed by Gilbert Bayes and Ferdinand Victor Blundstone) features a female figure, referred to as Victory, Liberty or the Spirit of Newfoundland on a granite pedestal. She holds a flaming torch, symbolizing freedom, in her left hand high above her head to signal that freedom was the priority. Her right hand holds a sword to represent Newfoundland's willingness to serve during the war as well as their loyalty to the British Empire. The sword is lowered but still poised to show that Newfoundland was, and still is ready to fight for freedom again.

Below the female figure, there are four bronze sculptures of different men. Left to right, there's a sailor (Newfoundland Royal Naval Reserve), a lumberman (Forestry Corps), a fisherman in oilskins and Wellington boots (Mercantile Marine), and a soldier (Royal Newfoundland Regiment). The four men create a tangible connection between the Newfoundlanders and Labradorians and those who served overseas.

Below the four men, there are now five plaques in commemoration of Newfoundland and Labrador's contributions in different conflicts. The original 1924 plaque (in the centre) memorializes those killed in the First World War. Plaques made in memory of the men who fell during the Second World War, The Korean War, Afghanistan and the War of 1812 were added later on.