In honour of tomorrow being the 104th anniversary of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment's attack at Beaumont Hamel, I will be presenting a thread detailing the events of that day in real time, using information from the various unit war diaries.

30 Jun 1916, 2115 hrs: 798 officers and enlisted ranks of RNFLDR march from Louvencourt to the reserve trenches opposite Beaumont Hamel. They, and the other 3 battalions of 88 Brigade, are the divisional reserve. In front of them are the 8 battalions of the 86 and 87 brigades.

97 officers and men remain in Louvencourt as the battalion's reserve. They will be kept out of tomorrow's attack so that, in the unlikely event of the battalion's destruction, there will be a cadre of trained and experienced soldiers to rebuild the unit.

Commanding the reserve group is British Captain James Forbes-Robertson. An officer of the regular army, Forbes is noted for his tough command style and for being an excellent military instructor.

By 1918, he will command his own battalion and will be awarded The Victoria Cross.

01 July 1916, 0200 hrs - Newfoundlanders complete the 8 mile march from Louvencourt to the reserve trenches, appropriately named 'St. John's Road' by their occupants.

RNFLDR will be in the third wave in the upcoming attack. They are scheduled to leave their trenches at 0840.

0515 hrs - German artillery shells the British front lines and British artillery batteries behind the lines. It is the first indication of the day that the German Army suspects an attack.

0720 - The mine beneath Hawthorn Ridge Redoubt is detonated. The ridge was a German stronghold in the 29th Division's sector. Soldiers of the Royal Engineers had tunnelled beneath the ridge and places 40,000lbs of explosives in the mine. The ridge is reduced to a giant crater.

0735 - the first wave of the British attack leaves its trenches. The men advance in long, single files to get through the narrow gaps cut in their barbed wire. They are immediately met with heavy machine gun and artillery fire from the German lines.

Captain GE Malcom, commanding D Company 1st Battalion King's Own Scottish Borderers of 87 brigade is part of the first wave. 60 yards from his own trenches, he orders his company to lie down to escape the bullets and wait for the other KOSB companies to catch up with them.

Malcolm then surveys his company: of the 180 or so men he led out of the trench, he can now count only 4, 2 of whom are wounded. They will spend the next hour laying down on the field, unable to move because of the heavy machine gun fire.

0736 - unable to tell what is happening due to the large volume of smoke on the battlefield, 29th Division observation posts report that the first wave (including Malcolm's company) have left the British trenches with very few casualties.

0752 - some white flares are seen above the German trenches. In an era with no portable wireless radio communication, the British use white flares to indicate they have captured their objective.

The Germans also use white flares to call for reinforcements in case of an attack.

0815 - white flares are seen above 87 Brigade's objectives. Both brigade and divisional headquarters believe that British units have captured the German trenches but, being cut off and under attack, are requesting reinforcements.

0820 - RNFLDR receives order to stand down from their planned attack of 0840. The Battalion commander, LCol Arthur Hadow, believes this to be because the first wave has not been successful.

Hadow is a career British soldier, having joined the army in 1899. He is a veteran of the 1902 Tibet expedition, occupation duty in South Africa, and spent 10 years with the Egyptian Army as an instructor.

Hadow, like Forbes, is known for his tough command style and excellence as an instructor. His instructional program after Gallipoli was said to have "made the Regiment" according to numerous RNFLDR veterans.

0845 - thinking that they have soldiers in the German trenches who are requesting reinforcement, 29 Division orders RNFLDR and 1st Essex Regiment to attack immediately. They are the closest two battalions that have not yet attacked on the Somme.

After receiving the order, RNFLDR and 1st Essex attempt to make their ways toward the British front line, however they find that the communication trenches are filled with wounded from the first wave. Making their way forward would take a considerable amount of time.

1st Essex determines that it will only attack when it reaches the British front line. Hadow asks Brigade HQ if he should wait for the Essex, or attack independently from their current position, thus increasing the amount of time the soldiers would be in the open. Brigade says yes

RNFLDR was well aware of the situation at hand. In addition to the hundreds of wounded lying in their communications trenches, Captain Bertram Butler of RNFLDR led a series of trench raids on the German front lines in the previous week.

During both raids, Butler determined that the German front line was still in tact and that a week's worth of British artillery shelling had not destroyed the barbed wire or the machine gun positions.

For his actions during the raids, Butler was awarded a Military Cross for valour. By the end of the war, he will be Newfoundland's most decorated officer with a Distinguished Service Order and a second Military Cross.

0915 hrs - Hadow gives the order to attack. RNFLDR leaves St. John's road and is immediately met with machine gun fire from their right flank. 1st Essex have not yet attacked - at this time, RNFLDR is the only visible target along the Somme battlefield.

Shortly thereafter German artillery begins firing on RNFLDR, who have not yet even reached the British front line. When they do, they must pass through the same narrow gaps in the wire as the first wave. According to the RNFLDR war diary, here the men are "mowed down in heaps."

Still laying down in no man's land, Capt. Malcolm of 1KOSB sees 40 survivors of a RNFLDR company advancing with no officers. He orders the survivors of his company to stand and charge, taking command of the Newfoundlanders. He will be wounded 60 yds from the German trenches.

RNFLDR's advance ends within 20 yds of the German lines. The war diary reports that "a few men are believed to have actually succeeded in throwing bombs [grenades] into the enemy's trench."

The battalion records 310 officers and soldiers as being killed or missing. A further 374 are reported as being wounded.

The unthinkable having occurred, a runner is sent back for Forbes-Robertson and the 10% reserve to immediately make their way forward.

0945 hrs - an hour after receiving the order to attack and 30 minutes after RNFLDR leaves its trench, LCol Hadow arrives at 88 Brigade Headquarters, 108 yards behind St. John's road. He personally informs the brigade commander that the attack has failed.

1005 hrs - 29th Division HQ is informed of the result of RNFLDR's attack. Major General Henry de Lisle, commanding the division, immediately orders all planned attacks by the division be cancelled.

In the after action report, de Lisle would say of the Newfoundland Regiment's advance that "this example of discipline and valour was equalled by others, but cannot be surpassed."

Including RNFLDR, 15,461 soldiers of 29 Div went into battle. 5,267 (34%) would be casualties.