Guide to The Australian Rememberance Trail

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It began in 1914, the war that was supposed to be the one to end all wars but in fact was only the beginning. World War I or the “Great War” began with the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand in what is now Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina and lasted until 1918. During the conflict, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire (the Central Powers) fought against Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, Romania, Japan and the United States (the Allied Powers).

With around 40 million casualties which included both soldiers and civilians and even more if you include service animals, WW1 was one of the deadliest wars in human history. The defence of the Western Front in both France and Belgium by Allied forces saw mass loss largely due to trench warfare that dwarfed previous wars.

With Vaughan’s extensive interest with WW1 he had said to me that one of his bucket list items was a visit to the ANZAC memorials/cemeteries along the Western Front. For anyone interested in World War I then a visit to some of the hundreds of memorials, battlefields, cemeteries, and museums is something not to be missed.  With so many WWI sites the challenge is choosing which ones you want to see in the time frame you have, thankfully the excellent Anzac Portal helped us plan our tour. We chose to follow the Australian Remembrance Trail which links the most important sites for Australians. Vaughan is a born and bred Australian, so this was his primary focus although we did drop in on cemeteries from other nationalities particularly British (my ancestry) as they too played a big part in the war.

We split our visits over the two years we travelled through Europe with our motorhome Matilda. In 2018 we visited the Belgium memorials plus Fromelles near the border in France. In 2019 when we explored France in more depth, we visited the Somme Valley, the site of the “Battle of the Somme” one of bloodiest battles in WW1.

We had a lot of ground to cover in the 3 months Vaughan was allowed to stay in the Schengen zone, so even though we followed the Australian Remembrance trail we did skip on some of the minor sites due to time constraints but also because we wanted to add in memorials of other nationalities.

Belgium

 Most of the sites to visit in Belgium are in the south of the country.

Messines

Situated in Southern Belgium, the battle of Messines began on June 1917 when mines underneath the German lines were detonated by British Forces. We visited the Messines Ridge British Cemetery and New Zealand Memorial which commemorates over 800 soldiers of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force who died in or near Messines in 1917 and 1918 and who have no known grave. 

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Christmas Truce Memorial 

Not part of the Australian Remembrance Trail, this is a memorial we saw whilst in the area and one that is unique as there are no graves but instead has an interesting tale to tell. This memorial commemorates the 1914 Christmas Truce football event where both armies went against direct orders, lowered their weapons, emerged from the trenches, and celebrated Christmas together. Both sides simply talked, told jokes, swapped treats and memorabilia, and of course played a football game.

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Ypres (Leper)

Ypres a small city in West Flanders in the southern half of the country was the most damaged by war. The headquarters of Australian General Sir John Monash were in the ramparts of the Menin Gate. As a symbol of remembrance, the Last Post ceremony is performed at the Menin Gate every night. In addition to the Menin Gate the city is also home to the “In Flanders Fields Museum” with countless exhibits and film shows on the Great War with emphasis on battles fought around the city. We spent a couple of nights in Ypres, as well as the Menin Gate and the museum the town itself has plenty of historical buildings, pubs, café’s and restaurants so its worth spending the day in this wonderful town and enjoy all it has to offer.

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Passchendaele Memorial Museum of 1917 and Garden

On the 31^st July 1917 Allied troops launched an assault on the Germans that saw one of the most horrific trench warfare to date. Because of torrential rain the allies found themselves not only fighting the Germans but a quagmire of stinking mud that swallowed up men, horses and tanks.  After 3 months, 1 week and 3 days the Allies finally re-captured the village of Passchendaele.

The excellent Passchendaele Memorial Museum is one of the best War museums in Belgium. It not only showcases exhibits and tells of the story of the battle but also has reconstructed trenches so you have some idea of what it would have been like, without the added horrors of course you can only imagine.

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Tyne Cot

Close to Passchendaele is Tyne Cot Cemetery, the largest Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery in the world. It is the resting place of more than 11,900 servicemen.

The memorial and Visitors centre attached to the cemetery are also worth a visit.

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Langemark German Military Cemetery

As already mentioned, we diverted off the trail occasionally to pay tribute to other nationalities war graves as war took lives from both sides. Near the village of Langemark is the German Military Cemetery where more than 44,000 soldiers lay to rest. The interesting observation with the German Cemetery was the headstones are flat slabs as opposed to upright headstones.

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France

In 2018 on our way to Belgium we stopped at Fromelles near the Belgium border to visit the sites around Fromelles.  On our return visit in 2019 we concentrated on the sites in the Somme Valley.

Fromelles

The battle of Fromelles took place on 19^th and 20^th July 1916 between British and Australian divisions and a German Bavarian division. Casualties from the confrontation were nearly 8500 in less than 24 hours, many of those killed were never found.

The excellent Fromelles Battle Museum tells the story of the battle and was the first museum we visited.

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Pheasant Wood Military Cemetery

On 19 July 1916 near the village of Fromelles, the 5^th Australian and British 61^st attacked a 4,000 yard section of the German frontline centred on a notorious strongpoint called the “Sugar Loaf”. Casualties amounted to 5,500 Australians and 1500 British. Pheasant Wood cemetery contains a total of 250 Australian and British soldiers. 225 are Australians, of which 59 are unidentified, 2 are unidentified British soldiers and 23 are entirely unidentified Commonwealth soldiers.

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V.C Corner Australian Cemetery and Memorial

V.C Corner was made after the armistice; it contains the graves of 410 Australian soldiers who died in the attack of Fromelles on the morning of 19^th July 1916. Of all the 410 bodies found, none could be identified. It was therefore decided not to mark the individual graves, but to record on a memorial the names of all the Australian soldiers who were killed in the engagement and whose graves were not known. In total over 1500 soldiers were lost out of the 3,400 who took part in the battle. The memorial commemorates the casualties.

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Australian Memorial Park

The Memorial Park was designed to commemorate the Australians who fought and died during the attack at the Battle of Fromelles on 19 to 20 July 1916. In the centre of the park is the “Cobbers” sculpture dedicated to the fallen during the battle of Fromelles. The figure carrying his comrade is based on the Australian soldier Sergeant, later Second Lieutenant, Simon Fraser. He was known as being one of the many Australian soldiers who bravely went out over three days and nights to bring in their wounded comrades from the field of battle.

This was the first attack to take place by Australian forces in France during WW1.

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Bullecourt

Two battles took place at Bullecourt in April-May 1917. The number of casualties was so high it influenced the conscription debate back in Australia.

At the centre of the Australian Memorial Park stands a bronze Digger that is shown gazing across the fields where 10,000 soldiers were killed or wounded in the two battles.

 

The Somme

The battle of the Somme also known as the Somme Offensive was a battle that took place between the 1^st July and the 18^th of November 1916 between the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. Casualties topped 1 million in the Battle of the Somme.

Pozières

The battle of Pozieres Ridge took place between the 23^rd July and the 3^rd September. The Pozieres sector was the highest point on the Somme battlefield so whoever had this high ground had a strategic position. After hard and long battle, the Australian 1^st Division captured Pozieres village by the end of 23^rd July 1916. The casualties of 1st Division numbered almost 5,300 in those few days. 

Memorials here to be visited:

1st Australian Division Memorial

A memorial to the 1^st Australian Division who captured Poziers village.

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The Windmill Australian Memorial

The site of the old windmill at Pozieres was acquired by the Australian War Memorial in 1932. Its significance lies in its location on the low ridge. After Pozieres fell on 23^rd July Australian soldiers fought to capture the site of the windmill against strong German opposition, the site represents the place where most Australian’s died.

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Tank Corps Memorial

Opposite the Windmill is the Tank Memorial commemorating tank warfare that began on 15^th September 1916.

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WWW1 War Animal Memorial

Let us not forget the millions of animals that also became the casualties of war. Horses, donkeys, mules, dogs and even pigeons. It is estimated 9 million animals died on the Western Front in WW1, facing the same horrors as their human companions did. This wonderful memorial commemorates the sacrifice they made. Two bronze sculptures stand on the site, one of a bronze horse head the other of a German Shepard Dog.

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Mouquet Farm

Due to its strategic location near the high ground of Pozieres Ridge, three Australian Divisions made nine attacks on the Germans here between 8 August and 3 September 1916. The Battle of Mouquet Farm cost the 1st, 2nd and 4th Australian Divisions over 11,000 casualties. None of the Australian attacks succeeded in capturing and holding the farm. Mouquet Farm finally fell to the British on 26 September 1916.

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Thiepval

Thiepval Memorial to the Missing is the largest memorial in the Somme and bears the names of 72.194 officers and men of the United Kingdom and South African Forces.  Over 90 percent of those commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial died in the 1916 Battles of the Somme between July and November 1916. A man playing bagpipes can often be seen at this memorial, we were lucky to see him when we visited.

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Péronne Museum

This excellent museum housed within the Château de Péronne, in the castle town of Péronne has extensive collections and displays devoted to the Great War. We really enjoyed this museum, its well laid out with signage/descriptions in both English/French. If visiting the Thiepval Memorial, then this museum is within the same area.

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2^nd Division Memorial Peronne

After visiting the museum, we paid our respects to this memorial on the edge of Peronne town which commemorates soldiers from the Australian 2^nd Division who were killed in WW1.

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Villers Bretonneux

No visit to the Australian War graves and memorials is complete without a visit to Australia’s main National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux. As the main memorial to Australian military personnel killed on the Western Front it is the site for services including Anzac Day. The centrepiece of the memorial is the tower which is worth the climb to the viewing platform at the top for views over the countryside as well as the whole site. There are 10,982 names inscribed on the memorial.

Also located on the site is the newly opened in 2018, Sir John Monash Centre which gives visual accounts drawn from personal letters, diaries and records of the men and women who were there. At the heart of the Centre lies a 360 degree theatre that puts the visitor right into the battles of Villers-Bretonneux and Hamel—to experience the Western Front as never before.  We arrived at the site the day after Anzac Day, it was cold and windy and we pretty much had it to ourselves as most would have attended the ceremony the day before. As much as we would have liked to have been there on Anzac Day, parking a big motorhome anywhere near the site would have been a challenge so we chose to avoid the crowds so we could enjoy it in peace. Not only did we get to enjoy having the site to ourselves but also enjoy the countless colourful freshly laid flowers and wreaths that had been laid on Anzac Day.

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Final Reflection:

I never really had an interest in war history or even knew much about World War 1 but having done this self guided tour not only did it give me a great education but also sparked an interest in war history to prompt me to research and learn more about it. I have to say it was a very interesting, enlightening experience and a real eye opener. It is unimaginable what pain, suffering and horrors millions of servicemen, servicewomen, war animals and civilians faced during those dreadful times.  The trenches and the battle fields would have been pure hell, it makes us appreciate where we live and the freedoms and opportunities we have, we really are blessed. 

Planning

We used the following sites to plan our trip:

• Anzac Portal
• Commonwealth War Graves Commission

The Great War a UK site also has some excellent information

When to Go

Anytime of the year really, the warmer months being the most popular time for obvious reasons.  There is an increase in Australian and New Zealand visitors in April especially around Anzac Day as many will want to be at Villers-Brettonneaux for the Anzac ceremony.  We found though, sites were never busy especially the smaller sites where you may be the only ones. 

Where to Stay 

We travelled by motorhome so it was easy for us to find places to park up for the night close to the sites.  For Belgium we parked up on the edge of Ypres City and in France we parked up in a village and in a caravan park in Amiens.  If you are not travelling with a motorhome/camper then the best option is to hire a car and base yourself in Ypres (Belgium), Arras and Amiens (France) which will offer a range of accommodation options.  Many of the sites are out in the countryside so unless you opt to do a tour then hiring a car is essential as well as giving you the freedom to tour sites at your own pace.

Date Created: 24/4/2020