A Traveller's Guide

Australi an Remembranc e Trail alon g the Wester n Fron t A Tra vel ler 's Gui de Plan Your Visi t 2 Cont ent s AUSTRALIANS ON THE WESTERN FRONT 1 NORTHERN REGION 31 Plan your visi t 2 Ypre s 32 In the footsteps of the family 6 Pol ygon Wood 36 Tyne Cot 37 SOUTHERN REGION 7 Messine s 38 Amien s 8 The 'mad pho tog rapher s' 39 Thie pval Memorial 9 Ploegste ert 40 Pozière s 10 The silent citie s 42 Albe rt 12 Naours 13 IN FORM ATION 43 Vignacou rt 14 In the Sout h 43 Péronne, Mo nt S t Que ntin 16 In the Centre 46 Bellenglis e 17 In the No rth 47 Corbie 18 Treating the wounde d 19 ITINE RARIES 49 A walk in the Somm e 49 Le Hamel 20 A bike ride t hrough Flande rs Field s 50 Viller s-B retonn eux 22 Pozières and the 1916 front lin e 51 Sir John Monash Centre 23 The Australian Remembrance Rid e 52 CENTRAL REGION 26 Arras 27 Fromelle s 29 Bulle cou rt 30 Aust ralian soldiers in t renches in f ront of the vi llage of Le Hamel after the battle on 4 July 1918 AWM E028441 © Th e Co mmon weal th of Aust ral ia Pu blished by the De par tment of Ve ter ans ’ This work is copyri ght. Apart from any and inquiries con cerning rep roduction Afffffairs , Canb erra, April 2018 use permitted under the Co pyri ght Act and ri ghts should be addressed to 1968 , no part may be reproduced by any the publi cations section, De partme nt ISB N: 978 -0- 6482602-0- 2 process without prior wri tten permi ssion of Veterans’ A fffffairs or emailed to Pub licati on Numb er: P03 563 from the Common wealth. Requests public ations@d va.gov.au Aust ralian Remembran ce Trail A Trav elle r’s Guid e Australians on the WesternPlan Your Front Visi t 1 Aust rali ans on th e weste rn fron t Most Australi ans hav e hea rd of Gallipo li in 19 15, bu t few kn ow muc h abou t th e W est ern Front . In ever y sense , this wa s a bigge r story . Australi ans fough t here fo r t wo an d half years at dre adfu l co st - 80 pe r cent of A ustralia n cas ualtie s for th e whol e wa r happene d on th e Wester n Fron t, in Franc e an d B elgiu m, bet wee n mi d 1916 an d lat e 19 18. Visi tin g the battl efield s and PLAN YOU R JOURNE Y memo rial s h er e is an e motiona l Thi s book let will hel p yo u pla n you r bu t r ewardi ng ex peri ence, wh eth er jour ney . It is no t a militar y hist ory of you ha ve a f amil y co nnecti on th e battl es alon g th e Wester n Fron t to the Firs t Worl d War or no t. – althoug h we’ ve include d eno ugh Th e site s alon g th e Australi an of th e stor y to ge t yo u start ed. Thi s Australian recruitment pos ter 1918 Re membranc e Trail offfffer us all a is a prac tica l guid e to you r tri p: AWM ARTV00039 way to r eme mber and hon our ou r whe n an d wher e to go , wha t to see tro ops re capture d the small villag e foreb ears . Les t we forget. an d do , wher e to sta y an d eat , an d of Vil ler s-Bretonneu x in no rther n som e sugg este d iti nerari es base d on TH E AUSTRALI AN Franc e. Th e i nten se fi ghti ng di ffffferen t int erest s and th e tim e you REMEMB RANC E TRAI L hal ted progr ess of the Ger man hav e to spen d here . Th e Austr alia n Rem embran ce Trai l spri ng offfffensi ve an d m arke d link s th e most si gni fica nt sit es Ther e is muc h to se e an d do beyon d th e beginn ing of t he en d of the fo r Austr alian s al ong 200k m of th e battl efield s in thi s par t of Fran ce Grea t War . T he peopl e of Viller s- an d Belgi um – fro m th e beauti ful th e Wester n Fron t: bat tlefiel ds, Bret onneux never forgot those Ba y of th e Somm e to anci ent town s cem eteri es, memori als, museu ms wh o liberat ed th eir town . lik e Ami ens an d Arra s to liv ely villag e an d th e trace s tha t Aust rali an To mar k th e centen ary of th e en d mark ets sellin g reg iona l deli caci es sol dier s left of themsel ves acros s thi s an d wines . Th ere ar e als o so me of th e w ar , th e Sir John Mon ash land scape . Rec entl y th e Austr alian , sup erb walkin g trac ks an d som e of Centre, a new int er pre tati ve c entre Fren ch an d Belgia n gover nment s th e bes t bik e ridin g tra ils in Europe . loca ted behin d the Australi an hav e work ed togethe r on a numb er Nati onal Memori al, comm emorat es of thes e site s to upgrad e fac iliti es A GREA T TIM E TO VISI T thi s s acri fic e for ne w generati ons an d impr ove th e visito r exper ienc e. of A ust ra lian s. On Anza c Da y 1 91 8 – t hre e year s Fro m nort h to south , th e Trail run s to the da y af te r t he Ga llipo li Th ere’s nev er bee n a bette r tim e to fro m Ypre s in Belgi um nea r the land ing s – A ust ralia n an d Briti sh visi t th e Wester n Fron t. sit e of th e Battl e of Passch endael e, Along the Somme River thr ough Fromel les an d Bulleco urt Amiens in north ern France , to Pozièr es, th e battl efield s of th e Somm e and Vill ers- Breton neux . Eac h sit e repr esent s a stor y of imm ense suffffferin g an d toil : 46,00 0 Aust rali ans die d on th e West ern Fron t bet wee n Marc h 191 6 an d the en d of th e wa r in Novemb er 191 8; anot her 134,000 wer e wou nde d or capt ured . Man y of th e bodie s of the dead were never recovered but their name s ar e no t forgo tten ; th ey ar e recor ded on th e memo rial s to th e missi ng. No pl ace on ea rth is mo re steepe d in Aust ralia n cou rag e or blood . Aust ralian Remembran ce Trail A Trav elle r’s Guid e Plan Your Visi t 2 PLAN YOUR VISI T If yo u are thinking abou t a tri p to th e Australi an reme mbranc e Th ere ar e lots of we ll mark ed si tes, y ou ’re li kel y to have lots of quest ions . Wh at do I most hiki ng an d b ikin g trai ls aro un d want to se e? How m uc h tim e do I have? Whe re do I start? th e W ester n F ron t a nd a good Wh at’s th e best wa y to get around ? Do I nee d a gu ide or a t our? select ion of places to sta y. Thi s bookle t will hel p you to wor k through thos e qu estio ns an d Experienc e th e regio n design an itine rar y to s ui t you r int erests an d time . Whil e yo u are visit ing th e We ster n Fron t, leave some room to enjo y How muc h ca n I do of tim e to w al k aroun d all the th e r egi on. Y ou do n’t have to majo r site s in Fl ander s and get spen d eve ry min ute w alki ng the If yo u have o ne day : dow n to Arra s or to wal k throu gh battl efields , visiti ng mu seu ms or joi n an orga nise d tou r fro m Par is, th e So mme Valle y aro und the squ eezin g in eve ry ‘ mus t see’ si te.

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