Sacrifice Honoured: The Battle of Monchy-le-Preux and the Unknown Newfoundland Soldier

March 16, 2026 – Defence Stories

Estimated read time – 1:55

Part of the Directorate of History and Heritage’s new history series

The Directorate of History and Heritage (DHH) is launching a new history series showcasing current research projects. Through this new series, DHH offers Defence Team members a sneak peak into the Directorate’s ongoing work, using excerpts from larger projects.

Historians Renée Davis and Dr. Melissa Davidson explore the Battle of Monchy-le-Preux and the story of the Unknown Newfoundland Soldier, who was laid to rest on July 1, 2024, at the National War Memorial in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador.

Exhumed from Cagnicourt British Cemetery, a First World War cemetery in northern France, the Unknown Soldier represents all Newfoundland’s missing from the Great War – but he also has a more specific story. 

The article begins by outlining the wider contributions of Newfoundland and Labrador to the First World War before providing a detailed analysis of the Newfoundland Regiment’s actions at Monchy-le-Preux on April 14, 1917 – the battle in which the Unknown Soldier was killed. It concludes by examining the aftermath of the battle and the lasting impact on the families of the fallen, demonstrating how the Unknown Newfoundland Soldier symbolizes the hundreds of soldiers and sailors without known graves whose names are inscribed on the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial.

To read the full article: Sacrifice Honoured: The Battle of Monchy-le-Preux and the Unknown Newfoundland Soldier

This article is the second entry in a new history series from the Directorate of History and Heritage (DHH), which highlights excerpts from current research projects underway across the organization. The series was introduced earlier this year in The Maple Leaf and offers Defence Team members insight into the work of DHH historians and the long‑term research that underpins Canada’s official military histories.

DHH’s core mission

DHH’s core mission is to preserve and share the official history of Canada’s armed forces. In pursuit of this, our team of historians work full time on a wide variety of in-depth research projects, often resulting in book-length narratives about Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) operations.

Ranging from post-1945 histories of the navy and the air force, to various peace support operations, to the more recent operations in Afghanistan, these projects require years of intensive research and writing. Historians delve deeply into war diaries, oral testimonies, and other unique, archival sources. Canada has employed official historians dating back to 1918, and past publications by DHH and its predecessors have proved invaluable to those seeking to understand Canada’s relationship with war.

Through this history series, DHH is pleased to be able to highlight current research into the history of CAF operations and share this work with the Defence Team and Canadians.