Saint-Quentinois < Aisne < Picardy < France The Australian War Memorial

In 1917 the Germans built a strong defensive line here, a series of mighty fortifications between Arras and , known as the “Hindenburg Line”. In September 1918 Commonwealth troops, particularly Australians, were charged with the dangerous task of flushing out the Germans and penetrating this line of defence. A memorial in honour of the 4th Australian Division was built in the upper part of the village of , the scene of their final battle.

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• Est. time: 2hr

• Length: 7,5km

• Lowest point: 84m 4 • Highest point: 125m 1 5

• Level: Easy

• Waymarking: Yellow & green

• Passing through: Bellicourt, Bellenglise 2

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© Carte IGN 2013 3

ON THE ROUTE NEARBY Australian memorial at Bellenglise Underground tunnel at Riqueval © F-X Dessirier 1 American memorial at Bellicourt 1 British war graves at Bellenglise 2 Tug museum (Tel. 03 23 09 37 28) 2 TOURIST INFO.: British & Australian war graves at Bellicourt Australian memorial at Bellenglise 3 Pays du Vermandois Tourist 3 Information office GPS treasure hunt. Riqueval bridge Tel. 03 23 09 37 28 4 More info. on www.geocaching.com

CREATION AND UPKEEP OF ROUTE: Communauté de Communes D Depart from Maison de Pays du Vermandois (car 4 Leave towpath by turning left onto winding, shady du Pays du Vermandois park, information point). Go along avenue of chestnut path running above the canal as far as Riqueval trees, turn left onto “Quatre-Mètres” track (higher up bridge which you cross. than towpath) towards Riqueval bridge (view on left 5 Turn left onto “Quatre-Mètres” track (British of entrance to Riqueval tunnel, winch site, canal port). commemorative stone at entrance to track). Go 1 At Riqueval bridge, turn right for 50m (cross past the “Imperial ramp” back to the Route card footbridge) and go onto a steep-sided track. Walk up taken from Maison de Pays. Route card taken from the track through fields and trees. www.randonner.fr 2 You come out onto a flat sugar beet field. Take the the walking/hiking farm track on the left which leads down to Bellenglise. website. Off route (500m round trip); continue straight onto Australian memorial (wide views of Bellicourt, , Bellenglise, , and basilica at Saint-Quentin). 3 Go as far as agricultural silo after a poplar hedge. Walk round it on the right-hand side as far as the See all our good banks of the canal deals on (caution: look out for tractors at www.facebook.com/ harvest time). Turn left onto towpath. randonnee.aisne conception : www.grandnord.fr conception © Somme American Cemetery and Memorial/ABMC Australian cavalryman 1/2 at Bellicourt Saint-Quentinois < Aisne < Picardy < France The Australian War Memorial Episodes in History

ROAD TRIP Story of a memorial AUSTRALIA iN THE GREATWAR Victoria Cross: As a dominion of the British Empire, Australia made The heroes’ trail a great contribution to the war effort. With 61,000 Attacking the Hindenburg line Australian soldiers killed, almost twice as many as 50 km - Depart Saint-Quentin in the Second World War, the Great War was the most deadly conflict for this country. The 4th Division of the Australian Imperial Force was created in Egypt in February 1916. Having disembarked in Marseilles in June 1916, it was involved in fighting between 1916 and 1918. Throughout its engagements this volunteer army suffered heavy losses: almost 11,000 dead and more than 27,000 wounded. In September 1918 these soldiers fought for several weeks and their battalion numbers were halved, given the number of wounded men and lack of reinforcements. The attack on the trenches began on 18th September and ended on 29th September when allied troops captured the tunnel and bridge at Riqueval. In 1919, after much prevarication, the 4th Division chose “Les Chaudries”, an elevated spot northwest of the village of Bellenglise on which to build a memorial. It overlooks the Saint-Quentin canal and Australian troops was the highest point reached by the Australian 4th Division and the scene of their last battle in the war.

© Somme American Cemetery and Memorial/ABMC

The heroes’ trail goes from the battlefields of the Nord-Pas-de- Calais to the Chemin des Dames, by way of the Somme. It consists of 6 different routes and a mobile phone app. to help you find out more about 50 brave soldiers. For Story of a canal STRATEGIC POSITION FOR RECONQUEST their courageous acts, these men received the Victoria Cross, the highest military decoration that can On the Saint-Quentin canal between Cambrai and be awarded to a British or Com- , in the reign of Napoleon I, it took 8 years for monwealth soldier. thousands of prisoners to dig a 6km tunnel, a huge Application available on project which enabled them to avoid building several App Store et Google Play locks. There being no ventilation in the tunnel, a winch boat, called the ‘Toueur’, pulls barges through as they cannot us their engines. During the First World War the Germans turned this underground canal into a veritable barracks, with firstaid stations dug out along the banks. The men slept in barges. In late September 1918 recapturing See details of WW1 the tunnel was one of the highlights of the Battle for the Hindenburg line. The attack was launched on 29th centenary events on September 1918. www.aisne14-18.com Americans (30th US Division) and Australians captured and in brochure available the tunnel and British troops captured Riqueval for free in all Aisne Tourist bridge, the only one still standing across the canal. It Information offices had great strategic value as tanks were able to cross the canal quickly and continue their offensive towards

Montbrehain. © Imperial War Museum (Londres) (Londres) Museum War Imperial © Find «Aisne-14-18» on British troops capturing the bridge at Riqueval

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