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VISITOR INFORMATION - WWI Trench

A Great War Trench in Elliston

Elliston has become home to many different and even unusual attractions over the years. However, a trench similar to those active during the First World War (i.e., Great War) is something special indeed. This piece of recreated history opened on July 1st, 2014 at the Discovery Shooting Club just outside of Elliston. In 2015, Parks Canada filmed some scenes depicting the WWI era Royal Newfoundland Regiment and some video excerpts are below. In July of 2016, an event “Legacy of Remembrance” was held featuring Parks Canada and local interpreters making use of this trench. That video is also below.

By 2020 this replica had fallen into extreme disrepair. However, it was rebuilt as a cut-away trench with cement in the sandbags instead of sand/earth. This reiteration is not as accurate but will last as the cement will remain long after the burlap sandbags disintegrate. This reconstruction is the only example, in Newfoundland, where rifles with live ammunition can be fired. It has been built above ground for ease of access & aims to provide the visitor with some small sense of what it may have been like. The public is welcome to view the trench and walk through it. While there be sure to step up on the "fire step" and peer over the parapet into what would have been "no man's land" on the battlefields of Europe.

For a CBC news story on this trench, History buffs bring WWI to life in Elliston, Click Here.

Map showing the location of the Discovery Shooting Club and recreated Great War Trench.