Fromelles Day Commemoration, Wednesday 19 July, Sydney
All FFFAIF members, friends and descendants and members of the public are invited to attend the Commemoration of the 101st anniversary of the Battle of Fromelles to be held at the ANZAC Memorial, Hyde Park in Sydney on Wednesday 19 July commencing at 10:45 for 11:00am. The commemoration is organised by FFFAIF in conjunction with the Trustees of the ANZAC Memorial to fulfil a commitment by the Trustees to the returned veterans of the 5th Division of the First AIF that their service and the sacrifice of their comrades on 19 July 1916 would always be officially remembered. The Battle of Fromelles was the first battle on the Western Front for the Australian Imperial Force and resulted in the largest loss of lives in any 24-hour period of Australia’s history.
Fromelles Day Centenary Commemoration, 19 July 2016, ANZAC Memorial, Hyde Park Sydney
State President War Widows Guild Mrs Rhondda Vanzella OAM, Leader of the Opposition The Hon Luke Foley MP, Acting President, NSW RSL Mr. John Haines AM, FFFAIF President Jim Munro, Premier of NSW, the Hon Mike Baird, Ms Jill Hayes (FFFAIF), Major-General Gus Gilmore, AO, DSC, Professor the Hon. Dame Marie Bashir AD CVO, Minister for Veteran’s Affairs, The Hon David Elliott MP, and the Consul-General for the Republic of France, M. Nicolas Croizer, Pastor Bob Durbin and Mrs Margaret Snodgrass (FFFAIF).
The 11am Commemoration is preceded by a Solemn Procession from the Archibald Fountain to the ANZAC Memorial at 10:15am for 10:30 step-off. The Archibald Fountain in Hyde Park, unveiled in 1932, commemorates the bond between Australia and France during the Great War and the Procession to the ANZAC Memorial symbolizes the “400 yards”, equivalent to the widest part of “No-man’s land” on the Fromelles battlefield, and pays homage to the 5th Division veterans marching to the ANZAC Memorial for the 50th anniversary commemoration in 1966.
Invitations are also extended to attend Solemn Vespers in Commemorating the Australians in the Battle of Fromelles, to be held at St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney on Tuesday 18 July 2017 at 7.00pm. Note that this is the evening before the Solemn Procession and Commemoration. A wreath will be laid at the Statue in Memory of Fallen Soldiers completed by George Lambert in 1931. As Australia did not have an official tomb of the unknown soldier until 1993, George Lambert’s recumbent figure came to be known informally as Australia’s ‘Monument to the unknown soldier” . Located previously in the crypt, where it was touched in the evening by the setting sun, the memorial has now been moved into the aisle of the cathedral, to give the public greater access to it.
Please RSVP to FFFAIF Commemorations Officer, Mrs Margaret Snodgrass OAM, margaret@forsyth.com.au or phone: (02) 9419 7411 if you wish to attend the Solemn Vespers, Solemn Procession or Commemoration.
Fromelles Day Commemoration, Wednesday 19 July, Melbourne
1:30pm Wreath Laying at the Cobbers Statue, Shrine of Remembrance
This is a joint service hosted by The Shrine of Remembrance and the Friends of the 15th Brigade to remember the 5533 Australians killed, wounded or captured during this disastrous 24-hour battle. 1:30 p.m. at the “Cobbers” statue.
Pozieres Day Commemoration, Sunday 23th July 2017, Sydney
The First Battalion Association is commemorating the 101st Anniversary of the Battle Pozieres at their annual service at Saint Columba Uniting Church corner Ocean and Forth Streets, Woollahra, 9:30am Sunday 23th July 2017.
