WW I soldier descendants to be part of Beaumont Hamel film
Two young people with family connections to the First World War are heading to Europe to take part in a docu-drama about an infamous battle that claimed the lives of hundreds of Newfoundlanders.
Sian Ayre Evans and David Atkinson were recruited more than a year ago by Galafilm and Morag Loves Company for their co-production Newfoundland at Armageddon.
Dozens of men and women have roles in the film, including Ayre Evans and Atkinson, who will be joining the rest of the cast and crew in Europe next week to recreate the Newfoundland Regiment's tragic July 1, 1916 advance at Beaumont Hamel on the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
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Sian Ayre Evans, a university student from St. John's, and David Atkinson, who lives and works in Bay Roberts, are both descendants of men who fought at Beaumont Hamel.
Atkinson's great-grandfather, James R. Steele, was wounded during battle and his great-great uncle, Owen Steele, was injured, and died a week after.
"James was in the second contingent ... he made it within 20 yards of the German trenches, was hit by shrapnel and survived by laying on the ground," he told CBC's St. John's Morning Show on Friday.
"He sort of laid on the ground until nightfall and crawled back to our trenches."
Listen to part of a CBC interview with James R. Steele, recorded in 1966 on the 50th anniversary of Beaumont Hamel.
Ayre Evans had four ancestors in the battle. Her great-great uncle Gerald Ayre and relatives Eric, Wilfred, and Bernard Ayre were all killed at Beaumont Hamel.
While she has been to the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial before, she thinks this time around she will have fresh insight into the battle.
"I'm going back with such a new knowledge and appreciation for what they did, I think," she said.
"It's going to be a really emotional and moving experience, and I'm excited to have it all captured on film so I can show my friends and family."
Telling the story of their ancestors
While Ayre Evans doesn't have much experience being part of a film production, she is eager to get going on the project.
"I don't really look at it as acting, I feel like it's more telling a story," she said.
"I'm learning and studying up on my family's history and I'm just excited to tell that side of the story."
Atkinson said he feels the same way, but is still feeling butterflies in his stomach as he gets ready to head off to France.
"It's exciting," he said.
"I'm looking forward to it, but there's a little bit of nerves as well."