Australian Remembrance Trail Colophon

Australian Remembrance Trail Colophon:

Chief & managing editor: Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917 Texts: Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917, Freddy Declerck Photography: MMP1917, Tourist Office Zonnebeke, Freddy Lattré, B.ad, Westtoer, Henk Deleu, Office du Tourisme de Comines-Warneton Maps: Passchendaele Research Centre Zonnebeke Design & prepress: Impressionant Print | Impression: Lowyck & Pluspoint Website: www.passchendaele.be

Gallipoli, 25 April 1915. Australian and New group of the 38th Battalion A.I.F. reached the Zealand troops land on the Turkish peninsula. ruins of the Passchendaele Church. However, After eight months of stalemate the military as they were totally unsupported, they had to operation at Gallipoli fails, but the legend withdraw. The situation was hopeless and all of the ANZACs as soldiers of great courage, along the line the ANZACs fell back to their loyalty, sacrifice and comradeship is born. original positions. The ANZAC attempt to take Passchendaele was over. After Gallipoli the Australians move to the Western Front. They take part in the Battle PASSENDALE of the Somme and the Battle Fromelles in France where they suffer heavy losses. In 1917 the five Australian Divisions arrive in Belgium for the ‘Flanders Offensive’. Their first major CWGC TYNE COT CEMETERY battle takes place on 20 September 1917 near 4 Au. D. the Menin Road during which the 1st and 3 Au. D. 2nd Australian Divisions reach the outskirts of Polygon Wood. 2 Au. D. ZONNEBEKE

Six days later, on 26 September 1917, the 1 Au. D. Battle of Polygon Wood begins. The 4th and 5th Australian Division are on the attack. The 4 Au. D.

5th expels the Germans from the infamous 2 Au. D. Butte. The 4th is advancing on the left hand side of the allocated sector. 5 Au. D. 1 Au. D. BESELARE On 4 October 1917, the 3rd Australian 20/09/1917 Division captures Tyne Cot, a strategic 12/10/1917 GELUVELD 0 0,5 1 2 position in the German Flandern I Stellung, Km a line of concrete pillboxes, blockhouses and machine gun posts. This episode is known as the Battle of Broodseinde.

Despite a failed attack on 9 October 1917, with heavy losses for the 2nd Australian Division, yet another attack was ordered for 12 October 1917. Three months of artillery shelling and rain had changed the battlefield into a quagmire. The 3rd Australian Division encountered heavy resistance from the Germans. Any advance soon came to a halt in the mud, faced by constant enemy fire causing heavy casualties. Amazingly, a small 4 MEMORIAL MUSEUM PASSCHENDAELE 1917

The MMP 1917 tells the poignant story of the First World War in a gripping manner, with a special focus on the Third Battle of Ypres, otherwise known as the Battle of Passchendaele. Between 31 July and 10 November 1917, some 600.000 men became casualties (dead, wounded and missing), for THE AUSTRALIAN a gain in territory of just eight kilometers. EXHIBITION: AN ENTRY POINT For this reason, ‘Passchendaele’ has become FOR AUSTRALIAN VISITORS a symbol of the mindless futility of total war. The MMP 1917 combines the interactive Zonnebeke was the centre of Australian display of a contemporary museum, with the operations in Flanders during the remarkable experience of the Dugout (an First World War. Today the village and underground shelter) and the Trench. the surrounding area still include a number of historical sites of interest to Australia. The Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917 plays an important role in the valorization of several of these sites. Because of the strong affi liation between the MMP 1917 and Australia, the Australian exhibition in the museum doubles as an entry point to the historical battlefi elds. In this part there is a strong focus towards Australians and their heritage in Flanders. Beside historical facts, Australia-related objects and panels, the visitors are linked to other heritage sites and points of interest on the Western Front.

Location: Berten Pilstraat 5/A, B-8980 Zonnebeke

5 ZONNEBEKE CHATEAU with the theme of remembrance. They were/ GROUNDS will be opened one by one between 2014 and 2018. The Zonnebeke chateau grounds is the ideal starting point for a visit to the battlefields of 1917. Less than 3 kilometers away, you can find the well-known Polygon Wood and CWGC Tyne Cot Cemetery, the largest Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in the world. Beside the museum desk you will find the visitor lounge with all the information you need for your tour. There is also information for visitors who enjoy hiking, biking or are looking for a place to eat. PASSCHENDAELE ARCHIVES

No matter how impressive a visit to CWGC Tyne Cot Cemetery, the German Military Cemetery in Langemark or other cemeteries and memorials is, one can only find a name there. With the ‘The Passchendaele Archives’ the MMP 1917 intends to give a face and tell the story behind each name. > http://archives.passchendaele.be PASSCHENDAELE MEMORIAL GARDENS AND PASSCHENDAELE MEMORIAL PARK

The Passchendaele Memorial Gardens are part of the ‘The Legacy of Passchendaele’ masterplan. As part of this project, the two parts of the Zonnebeke chateau grounds were reunited, among other things. Landscape, recreation and education were the guiding principles behind the design of the park area. The Memorial Gardens are an outstanding result of this. Seven gardens in the shape of a poppy, were planted in the area. The goal is to make them into a remembrance garden for nations that fought in the region during the First World War. Every garden will be designed and built by the participating countries and will consist of three smaller sub-gardens, each dealing 6 RESEARCH CENTER Companies’ collected nearly 12.000 dead from the surrounding battlefi elds. Of these, The research centre is housed in the former only 3,800 bodies could be identifi ed. rectory at Zonnebeke, a modernistic building The wall behind the cemetery contains the by Huib Hoste. It is a place where researchers, names of 35,000 soldiers with no known students and interested individuals can grave. They include British, Irish and New fi nd aswers on the region’s battlefi elds and Zealanders who perished in the region after heritage. 16 August 1917. Many tens and even hundreds of thousands of visitors come each year to pay their respects to the men – some still only boys – who lost their lives in the surrounding battlefi elds. A visit that leaves no one unmoved. The cemetery was designed by Sir Herbert Baker and inaugurated in 1927. Nowadays, The Commonwealth War Graves Commission maintains the cemetery. The visitors’ centre, which the British Queen Elizabeth II and the former Belgian Queen Paola inaugurated in Contact: 2007, provides more information about the Ieperstraat 1, B-8980 Zonnebeke cemetery itself and offers a panoramic view on T 051 77 04 41, [email protected] the battlefi eld of 1917. A 3 km walking route, with thematic information panels, takes you from the Memorial Museum Passchendaele CWGC TYNE COT 1917 to the CWGC Tyne Cot Cemetery. CEMETERY The visitors’ centre is open daily from 10:00h to 18:00h. Closed from 1 December CWGC Tyne Cot Cemetery is an impressive to 31 January. yet understated haven of tranquillity that extends through the former battle landscape. With its 12.000 graves and 35.000 names on the wall to the missing, it is the largest Commonwealth cemetery in the world and it is a silent witness to the bloody Battle of Passchendaele. During the British offensive of 1917, almost 600.000 casualties fell in 100 days for a territorial gain of only eight kilometres. ‘Tyne Cot’ was originally a German defence position in the Flandern I line. In October 1917, the Australian troops established an aid post there, that soon grew Location: Tynecotstraat, in to a small cemetery with 340 graves for B-8980 Passendale (Zonnebeke) the soldiers who had succumbed to their Parkspace via Vijfwegestraat, injuries on the spot. After the war – between B-8980 Passendale (Zonnebeke) 1919 and 1921 – the British ‘Exhumation 7 CYCLE AND HIKING TRAILS miles long and connects beautiful, unknown places in the hilly landscape to the east of CYCLE TRAILS Zonnebeke. The route map is available at the Tourist Offi ce for€ 1,50. ‘The Legacy’ cycle trail The cycle trail is 37 km/23 miles long and Park Walk introduces you to the monumental heritage The Zonnebeke chateau grounds (29 of the Battle of Passchendaele. The route hectares/ 71.6 acres) have an extremely rich starts at the Zonnebeke Tourist Offi ce, crosses history. During the park tour, you will discover the undulating landscape and takes you past the story of the Zonnebeke Augustinian several WWI and non-WWI sites like CWGC Abbey, the heyday of the chateau grounds and Tyne Cot Cemetery, Crest Farm, the witch the impact the war and reconstruction had on village of Beselare... The route map is available the site. Education and recreation go hand in at the Tourist Offi ce for€ 2.00. hand in the newly renovated Passchendaele Memorial Park, with its stately mansion from ‘The Pioneer’ cycle trail 1933. The main attraction is the unique Along the ‘Pioneer’ cycle trail (38 km/23.6 Passchendaele Memorial Gardens, which are miles) you will discover more about the made up of seven small gardens in the form German story. The route runs along a less of a poppy. The Zonnebeke chateau grounds known, but no less important, wartime are a wonderful picnic location. Next to the landscape. Traces of the German presence can path from the coach parking to the chateau, still be found in many places. Here you can besides the library, there is a picnic zone discover the rich heritage of war, even across facilitating 56 people. The benches are free the French border. Both the logistical story to use for both groups and individual visitors. behind the construction of positions, as well as the daily lives of the German soldiers are discussed. The cycle trail starts at Zandvoorde town square. The route map is available at the Tourist Offi ce for€ 2.00.

HIKING TRAILS

‘The Pioneer’ hiking trail The ‘Pioneer’ walk starts at the Zonnebeke Zonnebeke Tourist Ofﬁ ce Tourist Offi ce and is entirely dedicated to Berten Pilstraat 5/A, B-8980 Zonnebeke Germany’s war story. So you can learn more T +32 (0)51 77 04 41, [email protected] about the unprecedented construction that took place in this region between 1915 and 1917 and the suffering caused by war on the German side. This route is 11.7 km/7.3

8 ‘THE LEGACY OF PASSCHENDAELE’

miles) takes you to Polygon Wood. Along the way you will discover not only the natural beauty, but also the landscape’s many silent witnesses of the First World War. On the third ‘Geluveld’ walk (4.4 km/2.7 miles) you can enjoy the sweeping landscape and stunning panoramas of the Lys Valley and the border region. Along the way you will learn a lot about the history of this village. The first two walks start at the Zonnebeke Tourist Office. ‘The Legacy’ hiking trail The third walk starts at Geluveld market Explore our vibrant community with the square. ‘The Legacy’ trail. ‘Tyne Cot’, the first walk (8.5 km/5.3 miles), leads you to the largest The walking map with historical information Commonwealth cemetery in the world. The can be purchased at the Tourist Office for southern ‘Polygon Wood’ walk (9 km/5.6 €1,50.

ZONNEBEKE START

CWGC TYNE COT CEMETERY

8,5 km

9 km

POLYGON ZONNEBEKE WOOD START 0 250 500 1.000 0 250 500 1.000 m m

9 AUSTRALIAN WORLD WAR I HERITAGE IN BELGIUM WESTROZEBEKE

BIKSCHOTE

POELKAPELLE

LANGEMARK

PASSENDALE

BOEZINGE

SINT-JULIAAN MOORSLEDE 2 CWGC Tyne Cot Cemetery

1 Road to Passchendaele

ZONNEBEKE Memorial Gardens SINT-JAN CWGC Buttes New British Cemetery Menin Gate 4 3 IEPER BESELARE

ZILLEBEKE GELUVELD

Hill 60 5

VOORMEZELE KRUISEKE ZANDVOORDE GELUWE HOLLEBEKE

TEN BRIELEN

WIJTSCHATE HOUTHEM WERVIK

WERVICQ-SUD

BOUSBECQUE MESEN COMINES BAS-WARNETON

WARNETON

CWGC Toronto Avenue Cemetery 6 DEÛLEMONT LINSELLES

PLOEGSTEERT 7 Plugstreet 14-18 Experience 10 1 Here are inscribed almost 35,000 names ROAD TO PASSCHENDAELE of British soldiers who went missing in the During their famous attack of 4 October Ypres-Passchendaele sector after 16 August 1917 on Tyne Cot, Australian troops attacked 1917. All the missing Australian soldiers are along the Ypres-Roulers railway line. In 2005- on the CWGC Menin Gate. CWGC Tyne 2007 the former railway was transformed Cot Cemetery was designed by the British into a walking and cycling path by the architect Sir Herbert Baker and is located 3 Municipality of Zonnebeke and the Province km from the centre of Zonnebeke. of West Flanders. The path was renamed In 2007 H.M. Queen Elizabeth II and the ‘The Road to Passchendaele’, connecting former Belgian Queen Paola inaugurated a Zonnebeke town (and the MMP 1917) with visitors’ centre behind the cemetery. CWGC Tyne Cot Cemetery over a distance of three kilometres. Along the path, a series of 2 panels is installed following the steps of the attack of 4 October 1917. The Australian Department of Veterans’ Affairs also marked the start and end positions of the attack with two small memorials bearing the famous rising sun badge.

Location: Vijfwegestraat, B-8980 Zonnebeke

2 CWGC TYNE COT CEMETERY AND VISITORS’ CENTRE CWGC Tyne Cot Cemetery is the largest Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery in the world. It is the fi nal resting place of nearly 12,000 soldiers, including 1,372 Australians of whom just 124 are known by name. Beneath the Cross of Sacrifi ce is the Memorial to the 3rd Australian Division which captured Tyne Cot on 4 October 1917. A Memorial to the Missing was built in an arc as the rear wall of the cemetery. 11 3 4 CWGC MENIN GATE POLYGON WOOD AND CWGC The CWGC Menin Gate has become BUTTES NEW BRITISH CEMETERY what can be described as a ‘national’ war Polygon Wood is located just over a kilometre memorial of the British Commonwealth from the centre of Zonnebeke. The woods and was designed by the British architect were in German hands from 1915 to 1917 Sir Reginald Blomfi eld. Built where one of and were totally destroyed during the Battle the medieval gates of Ypres once stood, it is of Passchendaele. After heavy fi ghting on 26 a site that was passed or passed through by September 1917 the 5th Australian Division many of the First World War Commonwealth took the wood. troops as they marched into battle to defend There are two cemeteries on the site: CWGC the Ypres Salient. The CWGC Menin Gate is Polygon Wood Cemetery is a small battlefi eld a Memorial to the Missing and bears some cemetery, mainly with the graves of New 55,000 names of soldiers of the British Zealanders who fell in the winter of 1917- Empire who went missing. As a tribute to the 1918. CWGC Buttes New British Cemetery fallen, the Last Post is played at the Menin is a post-war concentration cemetery with Gate every evening at 08.00h since 1928. the graves of over 2,000 soldiers brought in from the surrounding battlefi elds. 1,600 graves are unknown, including those of many 3 Australians from the 1917 fi ghting. On the top of the Butte, now stands an impressive memorial to the 5th Australian Division.

Location: Menenstraat, B-8900 Ieper

12 4 6

Location: Lange Dreve, B-8980 Zonnebeke Location: Chemin du Mont de la Hutte, 5 B-7782 Comines-Warneton HILL 60 Hill 60, in Zillebeke, is a known site for 7 underground warfare during the First World War. In November 1916 the 1st Australian PLUGSTREET 14-18 EXPERIENCE Tunnelling Company is involved in the Plugstreet 14-18 is a visitor center telling preparations for the Battle of Messines. For the story of the soldiers and civilians who six months, they are responsible for the lived and fought in the Commines-Warneton maintenance and eventually blowing up of area in the south of Belgium. The Centre the Hill 60 mine under the German lines. A is located in Ploegsteert Wood, which is lot of soldiers who worked and fought in the also home to the CWGC Toronto Avenue dark tunnels are still buried in the clay. Hill Cemetery, the only all-Australian cemetery 60 is a cemetery without gravestones. There in Belgium. The Australian government is also a memorial for the 1st Australian contributed over $370,000 and more than Tunneling Company. 550 images to the Centre to tell Australia’s stories, from the 1st Australian Tunnelling Location: Company and the Battle of Messines in Zwarteleenstraat 40, B-8902 Zillebeke 1917, to the Australian soldiers’ endurance of the bitter winter that followed.

6 7 CWGC TORONTO AVENUE CEMETERY CWGC Toronto Avenue Cemetery is located in the woods of Plugsteert (Comines-Warneton). Access is only possible by foot. It is named to one of the paths in Ploegstreet Wood. The cemetery is designed by G.H. Goldsmith. It contains 78 graves of offi cers and men of the 9th Brigade (3rd Australian Division) who Location: died in the Battle of Messines between 7 and The Plugstreet 14-18 Experience Interpretive 10 June 1917. Centre Rue de Messines 156 7782 Ploegsteert

13 AUSTRALIAN WORLD WAR I HERITAGE IN FRANCE

DOVER

CALAIS BRUSSEL IEPER

SAINT-OMER LIÈGE Fromelles LILLE1 MONS

Bullecourt 2

3 Pozières Le Hamel Mont St-Quentin AMIENS 5 4 6 SAINT- QUENTIN LUXEMBOURG Villers-Bretonneux ROUEN

REIMS

PARIS

1 THE AUSTRALIAN MEMORIAL by Dr. Bastiaan at sites of action where PARK (FROMELLES) Australian Forces have been involved. The Australian Memorial Park in Fromelles is located on the German defensive line The CWGC V.C. Corner is a unique which was attacked on 19 and 20 July 1916 Australian cemetery on the Western Front by the Australian forces during the Battle of and contains the graves of 410 Australian Fromelles. The attack on 19 and 20 July was the soldiers. They were killed during the Battle fi rst attack by the Australian forces in France of Fromelles in July 1916. The individual during the First World War. In the centre graves are not marked because none of the of the Memorial Park there is a sculpture bodies could be identifi ed, so they record by Peter Corlett (Melbourne): ‘Cobbers’ the names of all the Australian soldiers who Sculpture dedicated to the men who fought were killed in the battle on a memorial. during the battle. The fi gure carrying his Many of those originally listed on the comrade is based on the Australian Sergeant, memorial were subsequently identifi ed and later Second Lieutenant, Simon Fraser. In re-interred at CWGC Fromelles (Pheasant the Park there are some German concrete Wood) Cemetery. bunkers and a bronze Memorial Plaque by Dr. Ross Bastiaan. He was a Colonel in the Location: Australian Army Reserve. More than 140 Rue Delval, F-59249 Fromelles bronze relief plaques are placed worldwide 14 1 2

2 BULLECOURT The bronze Bullecourt ‘digger’ is looking out from the Australian Memorial Park over the fi elds of Bullecourt. The memorial recalls the thousands of Australians who fought here in April and May 1917 in the fi rst and Location: second battles of Bullecourt. They captured Rue des Australiens - F-62128 Bullecourt Germans, trenches which formed a small section of the formidable ‘Hindenburg Line’. During the fi rst battle, on 11 April 1917, 3 the diggers were driven from positions they had gained near the memorial at a cost of POZIÈRES 3,000 casualties. The second battle, on the The 1st Australian Division Memorial at same place between 3 and 16 May, resulted Pozières commemorates the offi cers, the in 7,000 Australian casualties. This time the non-commissioned offi cers and men of Germans lost the area and the village and fell the 1st Australian Division who fought back to a new front line. in France and Belgium during the First On ANZAC Day 1992, the Australian Minister World War in 1916, 1917 and 1918. The for Veterans’ Affairs, Ben Humphreys, opened Battle of Pozières Ridge took place the the Memorial Park in the middle of which 23 July till the 7 Augustus 1916. At the 1st was a large cairn. The Offi ce of Australian Australian Division Memorial there are War Graves commissioned Melbourne information panels about Private John sculptor Peter Corlett, to produce a work Leak, VC and Lieutenant Arthur Seaforth that reﬂ ected the character of the Australian Blackburn, VC, CMG, CBE, ED. From the soldiers who had fought at Bullecourt in viewing platform you have a magnifi cent 1917 and that would remain relevant into the view across the battlefi elds of the Somme. future. Peter Corlett soon discovered a deep At the memorial, the ‘Gibraltar’ German personal connection. Before undertaking the Blockhouse is partially preserved (no access commission he had not been aware that his at the remains). Dr. Ross J. Bastiaan has also father, Private Kenneth Corlett, had actually designed a bronze Memorial Plaque at the fought at Bullecourt. 1st Australian Division Memorial. 15 3 4

Location: 268 Route d’Albert, F-80300 Pozières

panel gives information about the two 4 VC winners: Private Henry (Harry) Dalziel MONT ST QUENTIN (PÉRONNE) and Lance Corporal Thomas (Jack) Axford, The Second Australian Division Memorial is MM and corporal Thomas Pope (US Medal located on the Mont St Quentin, a strategic of Honour). Remains of a trench section are point to the German defence of the Somme. incorporated in the memorial site. Between 31 August and 2 September 1918, Australia’s Second Division attacked and captured Mont St Quentin. During the battle 5 Sergeant Albert Lowerson, 21st Battalion, was awarded the Victoria Cross.

5 LE HAMEL The Australian Corps Memorial Park is located in Le Hamel, to the south of the River Somme. The park commemorates Location: over 100,000 Australians who served with Ch. de Sailly Laurette, F-602010 Hamel the Australian Corps in France during 1914- 1918. The Memorial is situated on the site of the fi nal objective of the Battle of Hamel (4 July 1918). This memorial is constructed as three blocks of curved granite set in a semi- circle. On the memorial, an information 16 6 VILLERS-BRETONNEUX The Villers-Bretonneux Memorial is the Battle of Beaurevoir in the fi nal Allied an Australian National Memorial that Advance to Victory of 1918. The Memorial commemorates all of the Australian soldiers and the cemetery were designed by Sir who fought in France and Belgium from Edwyn Lutyens. The centre of the Memorial 1916 to 1918 during the First World War. is a tower. Inside the tower a stone stairway The Australian offi cers and men named leads up to the top of the tower and to a on this memorial were killed and reported viewing platform. There is a Roman style missing from the Battle of the Somme portico at the northern and southern end in 1916, the Battle of Arras in 1917, the of the memorial wall, commemorating the German advance in the spring of 1918 to names of the missing.

Location: D23 halfway between Villers-Bretonneux and Fouilloy

17 AUSTRALIAN CEREMONIES AND EVENTS

ANZAC Day Temporary exhibition 1918 – CWGC Buttes New British Cemetery, The Last Year of the Great War Zonnebeke, 6 a.m. Villa Zonnedaele, Zonnebeke 25 April 21 April – 15 November

ANZAC Day pays tribute to all of the This temporary exhibition, which consists Australian and New Zealand soldiers out of 3 parts, tells the story of the last year who fought during WWI. ANZAC Day of the First World War, and of the Liberation commemorations begin in Zonnebeke, in which the Belgian and American troops bright and early at 6 a.m. with the traditional played an important role. The main focus Dawn Service at CWGC Buttes New British in Zonnebeke is particularly the liberation Cemetery, at Polygon Wood. Many soldiers of Zonnebeke and Passchendaele by the from Australia and New Zealand were laid Belgian troops. The role of King Albert I to rest here. The ceremony is followed by a during this offensive will be highlighted. breakfast in ‘OC ‘t Zonnerad’; reservations The other parts of this serial of temporary for breakfast (€5) can be made via exhibitions are based in the touristic www.passchendaele.be/tickets. At 9.15 a.m. center in Heuvelland (Kemmel) and in the a Belgian-Australian ceremony takes place HIPPO.WAR in Waregem. More information: at CWGC Tyne Cot Cemetery. www.finaloffensive1918.org

Themed weekend with Living History Chateau grounds Zonnebeke 29 and 30 September

During the themed weekend the Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917 focusses on the different aspects of the fi nal offensive in 1918. During the weekend many events and activities © Henk Deleu will take place, but the focus will be especially on the Living History event, in which many historical actors from over the world will Passchendaele Ceremony with torch parade give the visitors a sense of stepping back in Passchendaele time. Next to encampments, weapons and 10 November historic objects, the reenactors will also give demonstrations. 10 November 1917 marks the day that Canadian troops ended the Battle of Passchendaele by capturing the ruins of the village. This is commemorated each year with a ceremony at Crest Farm Memorial and a torchlight procession to the Passchendaele church.

Info commemoration program 2018 www.passchendaele.be [email protected]

19 Annually closedfrom 16Decemberto31January. 16:30h. Last entry Open dailyfrom 09:00hto18:00h. www.passchendaele.be |www.zonnebeke.be W [email protected]|[email protected] E 0032(0)51770441 T Berten Pilstraat5AB-8980Zonnebeke Memorial MuseumPasschendaele1917andtheZonnebekeTourist Ofﬁce