ST. JOHN’S, NL—Across Newfoundland and Labrador the flags are at half-mast; today is Memorial Day. On the morning of July 1, 1916, partway through the First World War, the Royal Newfoundland Regiment was almost wiped out in 20 minutes under a barrage of German machine-gun fire. Of the 801 soldiers who fought that day, only 68 were able to answer roll call the next morning.

As people across the country mark Canada’s 150th birthday, inside The Rooms, the province’s art gallery, archives and museum, Memorial Day is being observed. Women with scarves of forget-me-not blue and men in matching ties are lined up in the Royal Newfoundland Regiment Gallery. They are descendants of those who served during the war and are here to share their families’ stories.

While Jim Herder has lived in Ontario for 40 years, he always tries to make it back home for July 1 and was at hand at The Rooms to speak about his family’s contributions.

When war broke out, Herder’s aunt Elsie Herder was studying to be an opera singer in Berlin and returned home at the urging of her father. But she wanted to help and signed up with the Voluntary Aid Detachment. She would drive ambulances and work behind the lines as a nurse.

Three of Herder’s uncles went over the top at Beaumont-Hamel. One was killed that day, another died in 1917, and only one was able to make it home.

But what does this day mean to Herder? “Well, I’m split down the middle. The morning is Remembrance Day and the afternoon is Canada Day,” he paused. “When we walked in the flags were at half-mast . . . but they’ll go up in the afternoon. I think most Newfoundlanders feel that, certainly the older ones.”

Long before Newfoundland and Labrador became Canada’s 10th province, July 1 was a day to remember. It’s hard to reconcile this day with Canada 150.

“I think they’re very different animals. I suppose though in a way, when Canada looks back at Vimy Ridge, that’s when Canada became established,” Herder says. “And we look upon Beaumont-Hamel at that time. I mean, it was devastating at that time, to the country in those days. So it’s something that we can’t forget.”