 Australia
erected its national war memorial here to commemorate the nations feat
of arms in France and Belgium during the war. The memorial also records
and honours 10,982 Australian dead who have no known grave and died in
France (other than at Fromelles). The national memorial with its 32
metre tower. Overlooks many of the battlefields in which Australians
fought including those to the north around Dernancourt and south beyond
Villers Bretonneux. The memorial is located on a hill from which the
Australians and British repulsed German advances on Villers Bretonneux
on 24 April 1918.
The memorial was built by the commonwealth war graves commission and
unveiled in 1938 by King George VI - during 1940 French forces briefly
held the advancing Germans in this area, signs of the damage done by
German artillery can still be seen today. Separate from the memorial is
the cemetery, which was made after the 1918 armistice. Graves from other
burial sites and the battlefield were concentrated here. Men from many
nations lie here in peace.
Their sacrifice is not forgotten.
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