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The 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th Division Memorials

and 

There are four Australian Divisional Memorials in France (the 5th Division Memorial is located in Polygon Wood, Zonnebeke in Belgium). The 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th Divisional Memorials are of a similar design being in the shape of an obelisk with a bronze plaque recording each Division's battle honours.

1st Division Memorial

1st Division Memorial. Click to view larger image

Located at Pozieres, it is easily seen from the D929 Albert-Bapaume road. During the battle for Pozieres in July 1916, the 1st Division were under continuous heavy artillery fire. When the Division withdrew on 27 July 1916 they had lost 5,285 officers and men in four days. The 2nd Division relieved the survivors of the 1st Division. Return to top of page

2nd Division Memorial

2nd Division Memorial. Click to view larger image Today, the 2nd Division memorial is located at the side of the Bapaume-Peronne road in the village of Mont St. Quentin. The occupying German army removed the original memorial, depicting a Digger about to bayonet a German eagle, in 1940. Australia replaced it with a magnificent 2.5 metre tall slouch-hatted Digger in battle dress. Return to top of page

3rd Division Memorial. Click to view larger image

 

3rd Division Memorial

Located at Sailly-le-Sec, near Albert. The obelisk stands prominently on the ridge north of the Somme River. Return to top of page

 

4th Division Memorial. Click to view larger image

 4th Division Memorial

This is the most eastern of all the AIF memorials. The obelisk stands on high ground where the Hindenburg Line once barred the Allied approach. The memorial is located on a farm road at the hamlet of le Petit Arbre, which is situated beyond the town of Vandancourt. Return to top of page

Clicdk to enlarge

 

  5th Division Memorial

The memorial obelisk crowns the Buttes, the mound of a pre-1914 rifle range, in Polygon Wood, Belgium. During heavy fighting in September 1917 the 5th Division recaptured the wood. 

On the Ieper (Ypres) /Zonnebeke road, a grassy path through the wood from the road reaches the memorial. Return to top of page

Click to enlarge

The Windmill Site

Windmill Site Picture. Click to view larger image

The "Windmill Site", although originally dedicated to the 2nd Division, (3rd Division also earned the Battle Honour "The Windmill') has a national flavour and is situated further north of the 1st Division Memorial toward Bapaume. This unusual monument is a square of formerly shell-torn ground where the windmill once stood and where so many Australians fought and died. A stone bench carries the inscription:


'The ruin of Pozieres windmill which lies here was the centre of the struggles in this part of the Somme battlefield in July and August 1916. It was captured on 4th August by Australian troops, who fell more thickly on this ridge than any other.' Return to top of page

The Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux

Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux. Click to view larger image

 Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux contains the names of over 10,000 Australians who died in France and who have no known grave.

Although the Memorial commemorates those Australians who died during the First World War, it was not actually completed until 1938 due to the Great Depression. During the Second World War the Memorial was extensively damaged and repairs were carried out subsequent to that conflict. The annual ANZAC Day service, arranged by the Australian Embassy in Paris, is held at the memorial. Return to top of page

The Australian Memorial Park, Fromelles

Australian Memorial Park, Fromelles. Click to view larger image

The Park is situated around the remains of fortifications on the part of the German line, which was captured by the 14th Australian Brigade and held overnight on 19-20 July 1916. The Park and the nearby VC Corner Cemetery, some 3 Kms from Fromelles, in northern France, are 8 Kms south of Armentieres, and 16 Kms west of Lille.

The central feature of the Memorial Park is the sculpture "Cobbers" by Peter Corlett of Melbourne. The sculpture is based on 3101 Sergeant Simon Fraser of 57th Battalion, a 40 year old Victorian farmer turned soldier who rescued many men from the battlefield, carrying a man of 60th Battalion. Later, Fraser, as a Lieutenant of 58th Battalion, was Mentioned in Despatches before being killed at Bullecourt on 12 May 1917. His name is recorded on the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux.

  Better Image from Alan Kitchen FFFAIF

The Bullecourt Memorial Park

This town has several AIF memorials, the most important of which is a small memorial park in which stands a major sculpture in bronze - the "Digger". The park’s commemorative plaque reads:

Sacred to the memory of the 10,000 members of the Australian Imperial Force who were killed or wounded in the two battles of Bullecourt, April-May 1917, and to the Australian dead and their comrades-in-arms who lie here forever in the soil of France. ‘Lest we Forget’

Bullecourt Memorial Park. Click to view larger image

The Bullecourt Memorial Park was dedicated in 1993. There were two major battles at Bullecourt in April and May 1917 in which some 10,000 members of the Australian Imperial Force were killed or wounded.

The Memorial Park overlooks the battlefield and consists of a cairn on which stands the bronze "Bullecourt Digger". The bronze sculpture was designed and sculpted in Melbourne by Peter Corlett. Return to top of page

most of the information on this page from DVA Office of Australian War Graves

 

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