Symbol of remembrance

Campus and Community

In the lobby of the Queen Elizabeth II Library on Friday morning, there was a palpable sense of reverence in the crowd.

President Morrison addresses the assembled guests in the Queen Elizabeth II Library lobby on May 1.

Members of the Memorial University community listened with rapt attention to the speakers as they gathered for the official unveiling of a Danger Tree replica destined for permanent installation at the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial in France.

Memorial University's Department of Technical Services, which crafts custom prototypes for the university, in partnership with Veterans Affairs Canada, designed and fabricated the fiberglass replica.

Local artist Brittany Mitchell painted the structure, bringing the final details of the tree to life. Barbed wire wraps around its base.

Technical Services fabricated the Danger Tree replica and local artist Brittany Mitchell painted it to resemble a living tree.

Now in its final incarnation, it looks remarkably organic and strong - strong enough to withstand the elements for decades to come in the preserved battlefield on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.

Replica based on the original

For generations, the machine gun-razed apple tree in Beaumont-Hamel has been one of the most powerful reminders of the First World War and the Battle of the Somme, particularly for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

Members of Parliament and the Canadian Armed Forces and Memorial's leadership team were in attendance.

On July 1, 1916, the first day of the battle, 90 per cent of the soldiers of the Newfoundland Regiment were lost or wounded in less than an hour in a hail of intense German machine gun fire, many near the foot of the Danger Tree.

As the years passed, the gnarled tree eventually died and decayed; it was replaced with several replicas over the past 100 years. Today, Memorial University was beyond proud to provide a Danger Tree replica to ensure the "living" symbol of remembrance endures in the original tree's spot.

• Read about the Danger Tree sculpture installed at Grenfell Campus in 2016.

Project's beginnings

The project began in 2023, when conversations began about celebrating Memorial University's centennial in 2025. Veterans Affairs Canada was a planning partner for the university's 100th anniversary, as was Memorial with Veterans Affairs Canada for the Battle of Beaumont-Hamel's 110th anniversary this coming July. As Memorial was founded in 1925 as a living memorial to the Newfoundlanders who died in the First World War, the relationship between the university and the department is a natural one.

The collaboration between Memorial and Veterans Affairs Canada resulted in a decision to have Memorial's Technical Services unit build the replica to be permanently installed at the site where so many Newfoundlanders and Labradorians made the ultimate sacrifice that day in 1916.

Watch a video about the fabrication of the Danger Tree replica on the St. John's campus below.

The monument represents loss and grief to Memorial and Newfoundland and Labrador, but also hope, President Janet Morrison said during the unveiling.

"The university is a living memorial to those who gave their lives and was founded a century ago to honour that past by promising a brighter future," she said to the assembled guests. "We were honoured to build it and moved by the reverence from everyone who had a hand in its fabrication."

"The Battle of Beaumont-Hamel is one of the most solemn moments in the history of Newfoundland and Labrador, marked by extraordinary courage and devastating loss," said Jill McKnight, minister of Veterans Affairs and associate minister of National Defence, via a video message. "This new Danger Tree will stand on French soil as a powerful tribute to the sons of Newfoundland and Labrador who gave their lives at Beaumont-Hamel. Acts of remembrance like this honour our nation's proud military contributions and ensure those sacrifices are remembered across generations."

Mackenzie Luff reads the poem, "Only One Tree".

Mackenzie Luff, an officer with the Canadian Armed Forces, an employee of Memorial's Marine Institute and a current Memorial graduate student, read the poem "Only One Tree," written by Loyola Hearn.

Benjamin Roberts, a corporal with the Canadian Armed Forces, a member of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment and a Memorial alumnus, spoke about his experience serving as a member of the bearer party for the unknown solider during the repatriation ceremonies in France and St. John's last year.

Benjamin Roberts shares his experience as a pallbearer for the Unknown Soldier in France and St. John's.

To close out the ceremony, the N.L. Regimental band, fittingly enough, played the Ode to Newfoundland. Many of those in attendance along, their voices registering in the crowd softly and clearly.

The N.L. Regiment Band plays the Ode to Newfoundland.

Permanent home

The replica has now been handed over to Veterans Affairs Canada; the Canadian Armed Forces will transport the monument across the Atlantic for its permanent installation at the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial in France. The unveiling in France will take place at a special ceremony attended by Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, site partners and neighbours on June 30, the day before the 110th anniversary of the Battle of Beaumont-Hamel ceremony.

Mandy Cook is the news editor with Marketing & Communications. She can be reached at [email protected].

Topics

• Campus and Community
• Creative Arts, Culture and Heritage
• President Morrison
• Public Engagement
• QEII Library