Australia
remembers its soldiers who fought and died in the First
World War Battle of Fromelles one hundred years ago
today.
The Battle
of Fromelles, west of Lille in France, lasted less than
24 hours and was the first major engagement for
Australian soldiers on the Western Front. In the battle,
the Australian 5th Division suffered 5,533 casualties,
the bloodiest single day in Australia’s military
history.
A
commemoration service at the Fromelles (Pheasant Wood)
Military Cemetery will be held today at 1pm (9pm AEST)
attended by the Hon Dan Tehan MP, Minister for Veterans’
Affairs and Defence Materiel, the French Secretary of
State for Veterans’ and Commemorations, Jean-Marc
Todechini, the Hon Warren Snowdon MP, the Governors of
New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland, Chief
of Army Lieutenant General Angus Campbell DSC, AM, the
Military Governor of Lille, General Bernard Maitrier,
and other dignitaries.
At the
service there will be a Headstone Dedication for six
Australian soldiers who were identified by the
Australian Army’s Unrecovered War Casualties Fromelles
project team.
The
soldiers are Second Lieutenant James Benson from
Bundaberg (Qld), Private Justin Hercules Breguet from
Geelong (Vic), Private Clifton Sydney Brindal from
Sydney (NSW), Private Sidney Broom from Mount Morgan
(Qld), Private William Burke from Parkes (NSW) and
Private Robert Thomas Maudsley from Keswick, Adelaide
(SA).
Another
service will be conducted at the memorial wall of the VC
Corner Cemetery at 5.15pm (1.15am AEST). The VC Corner
Cemetery contains the graves of more than 400 Australian
soldiers who died at Fromelles and could not be
identified. It is the only solely Australian war
cemetery in France.
Mr Tehan
said it was difficult to comprehend the scale of
Australian losses in the
Battle of Fromelles.
"The Anzac
spirit of courage and resilience was exemplified on the
Western Front and today is an opportunity to pause and
reflect on the experiences of those brave soldiers and
to be grateful for the service of every Australian man
and woman who defends our country," Mr Tehan said.
"Battlefields such as Fromelles, Pozières, Bullecort,
Passchendaele, Le Hamel, Villers-Bretonneux and Mont St
Quentin are part of our history and remain places of
great national significance.
"We must
remember the service and sacrifice of our soldiers on
the Western Front".
Today’s service marks the start of
a series of 100-year anniversaries of battles involving
Australians on the Western Front. A service to
commemorate the anniversary of the Battle of Pozières
will be held on Saturday.
