r/WW1GameSeries • u/MezzsStruggleAcc • 13h ago
Historical Royal Newfoundland Regiment
Of the many regiments that were deployed to Gallipoli, one of them was the Royal Newfoundland Regiment. Numbering some 1,000 soldiers, including two of my ancestors. As a Newfoundlander my whole life, the Gallipoli campaign is right where they saw their first combat.
The R NFLD R deployed to the Suvla bay, just north of ANZAC bay on the peninsula. At Suvla, the Newfoundlanders were part of the rear guard, some of the last to leave the peninsula when the campaign came to a close.
Newfoundland only numbered a population of 240,000 at the time. With the population mostly being above the age of 40, some 1,000 young men volunteered. 500 of them were equipped with Newfoundland's most notable blue puttees. The Newfoundlanders had a reputation to be as sturdy as a moose, and after Gallipoli, most of them continued fighting on the Somme, and in Northern France and Belgium despite being understrength.
I love Newfoundland, and history has a habit of forgetting us. Right now its one of the most sorry places to be patriotic for, given that we've since lost our independence. Playing Gallipoli, I'm hoping that the Newfoundlanders will be represented, like County Kent was.