The Fighting Newfoundlander is a vivid history of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment the Blue Puttees and its heroic contributions to the war effort Gerald Nicholson details the harrowing experiences of the Newfoundland Regiment the only Canadian unit at Gallipoli and later at Beaumont Hamel where 710 of the 801 officers and men who took part in the assault were casualties He also follows them to the Third Battle of Ypres and Cambrai for which they were granted the title Royal the only army unit to receive such a distinction during World War I