Australia was deeply involved in WW1 and a cluster of monuments in the Somme at Villiers Bretonneux highlights this: the soldiers are commemorated at the Australian National Memorial whilst the rebuilding of the nearby school was funded by the state of Victoria. The nearby battle of Le Hamel was a textbook success commandeered by an Australian general.

The Sir John Monash Centre

This was surely gratuitous violence! Blood sprayed from bullet wounds as soldiers died violently on multiple screens around us. It was like the opening sequence of Saving Private Ryan without the boats.

However these people were only actors and generated little empathy. We were sitting in the theatre of the Sir John Monash Centre behind the Australian National Memorial at Villiers Bretonneux, deep in the Somme department of France.

The memorial honours the 295,000 Australians who served on the Western Front between 1916-18 and the more than 46,000 who died there. It’s walls bear the names of the 10,729 Australian soldiers who died on the Somme battlefields whose graves are unknown.

These were real people, each with a story to tell, with families left devastated by their loss. Each carved name on the smooth walls represents a truncated life lost in the filth of the Somme, an endless war of attrition that stretched over four years with little gain.

The imagination can be more vivid than the reality, but even it struggles to envisage what these soldiers went through – yet that is as it should be, and the reinactment at the Monash left me cold – it was almost a trivilisation of the affair.

The museum, built by the Australian Government, opened in 2018 and comes complete with a cafe – I really feel it would have been better sited away from the memorial. If you do visit, be aware that one needs to download the app and use headphones to access the information on the displays.

The ANZACs

In 1914 Australia and New Zealand still saw Britain as the mother country. A volunteer army was formed rapidly and became the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC). A total of 7 Australian divisions were eventually formed, composed entirely of volunteers.

It underwent a baptism of fire at Gallipoli on 25th April 1915 and if the men had hoped for anything better on being transferred to France and Belgium, they were soon rapidly disabused of the notion.

They first fought at the battle of Pozières on 23rd July 1916 followed by a lithany of well known battlefields: Bapaume 1917, Arras 1917, Bullecourt, Messines 1917, Ypres 1917, Menin Road, Polygon Wood, Broodseinde, Poelcappelle, Passchendaele, Avre, Ancre 1918, Villers-Bretonneux, Lys, Hazebrouck, Hamel, Marne 1918, Amiens, Albert 1918, Albert 1918 (Chuignes), Mont-St. Quentin, Hindenburg Line, Epehy, St. Quentin Canal and Beaurevoir.

In April 1918 they halted the German advance at Villiers Bretonneux, so saving Amiens from capture.

In between, those 10,729 men vanished from existence, along with the others fortunate enough to be named on the white limestone slabs that are found in the Commonwealth War cemeteries.

The Australian National Memorial
Villiers Bretonneux

Fortunately this grand memorial with its distinctive tower does not disappoint. Poised on a hill, it gives 360° views over the surrounding battlefields.

It was the last war memorial of its era to be built and is approached through two porticos which flank the Stone of Remembrance where the words chosen by Rudyard Kipling are found: ‘Their Name Liveth for Evermore’.

The stone was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens along with the cemetery and memorial. The memorial was unveiled by King George VI on 22 July 1938 – only two years later war was to sweep over the area again and the brickwork bears many shrapnel scars.

Of the 10,982 names displayed at the unveiling of the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial the burial places of many have since been identified and this continues to this day. As a result, there are currently 10,729 Australian servicemen officially commemorated by this memorial.

Around the Great Cross there are 2,142 Commonwealth war graves, a concentration from the surrounding battlefields.

Unfortunately our visit was on the eve of ANZAC Day (25th April) and the tower was closed to visitors. There was also a huge array of lighting equipment, podiums and seating in readiness for the dawn service the following morning which rather spoilt the atmosphere.

The rustic L’Auberge de Fouilloy, just to the north, had a 2 course set menu for just 21 euros. We tried the local Ficelle Normande, a creamy cheese, ham and mushroom pancake followed by pork in mustard sauce. It was obviously a popular spot, with more locals than tourists which is always a good sign.

Le Hamel

Le Hamel represents one of those rare things on the Western Front, a successful battle that was largely over in 90 minutes with only 1,400 casualties, including 250 killed.

Engineered by General Sir John Monash, commander of the Australian Corps, it was the first battle that combined all the available forces. Tanks – albeit only three – supported the troops, having being moved into position overnight whilst the German front lines were being buzzed by aircraft so that they couldn’t be heard.

Aircraft were used to drop supplies by parachute to the machine gun posts and proved accurate to within 100 yards.

The date was symbolically chosen by the General as a nod to the newly arrived Americans – America had declared war on Germany on 6th April 1917. 1000 U.S. soldiers joined the force and the battle started at 3.10 am on the 4th July 1918 with a creeping barrage in front of the troops. The objective had been achieved by 4.35 am.

The tanks had been very useful in clearing Le Hamel village and had completely unnerved the enemy: there were unusually large numbers of German prisoners of war: 1,600 plus 400 dead.

Le Hamel is now The Australian Corps Memorial Park, commemorating the more than 100.000 Australians of the five divisions which served in France and Belgium. It is a quiet spot, sprawling over a hill where the German trenches lay, although these are only preserved in a couple of areas.

A path with interpretive panels leads to the monument which consists of huge stone blocks with a giant Australian ‘Rising Sun’ badge. All around was quiet undulating countryside, a sea of plough and oil seed rape from whose land munitions are still recovered today.

We had one final stop to make in the area: the school at Villiers Bretonneux which was funded by school children from the state of Victoria Some 1200 of their father’s and brothers had died in the battle on 24th April 1918.

The building is functional rather than pretty and there is a 6 euro entrance fee. Inside there is an eclectic assortment of war memorabilia and displays of old photos. I found its simplicity more moving than the Monash centre. It has a little shop with a small collection of original uniforms for sale.

ANZAC Day beckoned. The Villiers Bretonneux memorial has the largest ANZAC Day service in France and can be attended for free with pre registration. There were many Australian tour groups in the area; I spoke to a lady at Le Hamel whose grandfather had died there. She had come a long way to pay homage.

We shall remember them.