Photo by Geoffry Malins. 1st Lancashire Fusilers poised for the attack on Beaumont Hamel, World War I.TAKING OF BEAUMONT HAMEL. Scottish, Pipe March (2/4 time). A Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB’CCDD’. Composed by John MacClellan, D.S.M., a poet and painter from Dunoon, Scotland, who was formerly Pipe‑Major of the 8th Battalion, Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders during World War I. The engagement at Beaumont Hamel took place on the opening day of the Battle of the Somme, in 1916, when British and Canadian forces (including the 1st Lancashire Fusilers, below) attacked following the detonation of a huge mine that was laid in a tunnel beneath the German lines. It was not successful, and the attacks were beaten back with huge loss of life. One regiment sustained 684 casualties out of the 752 men who attacked. The fortified village was finally taken by the Highland Division in bloody combat over several days in November, at the end of the battle.
Additional notes
Printed sources : - Cranford (The Cape Breton Highland Collection), 2015; No. 58, p. 30. Martin (Ceol na Fidhle, vol. 3), 1988; p. 27. Martin (Ceol na Fidhle, vol. 4), 1991; p. 31.
Recorded sources : - Rounder Records 82161-7053-2, Theresa Morrison & Doug MacPhee - "Lake Bras d'Or" (2004). Topic Records12TS291, John Burgess - "The Art of the Highland Bagpipe vol. 1" (1976). Wildcat Records WILDCD 101, Ronan Martin – “Ronan Martin” (2008. Learned from box player Ken ‘Cam’ MacKay).
See also listing at : Alan Snyder's Cape Breton Fiddle Recordings Index [1]
