Saturday 19th July is the 92nd anniversary of the Battle of Fromelles. In its first battle on the Western Front, the Australia Imperial Force suffered 5,533 casualties in a single night with 1,917 killed. The Diggers who made the ultimate sacrifice as a result of the battle are commemorated on the wall at VC Corner Australian Cemetery at Fromelles.
Photo: VC Corner June 2008 (Carole Laignel)
Commemoration Services for the Battle of Fromelles will be in Sydney and Melbourne at the State War Memorials.
The service in Sydney will be held at The Anzac Memorial, Hyde Park at 10:45am.
In Melbourne the service will be held at The Shrine of Remembrance at 1:30pm.
Photo: Sculptor Peter Corlett & Lambis Englezos
A replica of Peter Corlett’s ‘Cobbers’ sculpture will be unveiled in the grounds of the Shrine of Remembrance Melbourne at 11:00am by the Premier of Victoria and Mayor of Fromelles. The original Cobbers statue stands in The Australian Memorial Park as a tribute to those who bravely went out to rescue wounded mates or ‘Cobbers’ from no-man’s land in the aftermath of the Battle of Fromelles. It depicts Sergeant Simon Fraser carrying to safety a wounded man of the 60th Battalion.
Photo: L to R – Kerry Payne [Tattersall’s George Adam’s Foundation], John Taylor [Chairman of Trustees], Denis Baguley [Shrine CEO], Michael Wright [Rush Wright, Landscape Architects]
FFFAIF President Russell Curley reported in a recent DIGGER that: Originally proposed in 2006 by Lambis Englezos, Garrie Hutchinson and Ross McMullin (Friends of the 15th Brigade), the ‘Cobbers’ dedication gives long overdue public recognition, the first by a State Memorial in Australia, to the enormity of the sacrifice made by members of the Fifth AIF Division in the first battle undertaken by Australians, fighting as a division, on the Western Front…… A private viewing of the replica was held at the Meridian Foundry, Fitzroy, on 28th February last. Representatives of the major financial sponsors (Tattersall’s George Adams Foundation, the Victorian Government and Yarra Trams) attended, along with the Shrine’s Trustees, senior management and other invited guests. The Trustees are providing the administration and project management support.
[The photos above of the preview evening, by Susan Gordon-Brown, are published with the kind permission of the Shrine of Remembrance and FFFAIF wishes to thank the Trustees and Mr Denis Baguley, the Shrine’s CEO.]
If you know of any other Fromelles memorial services taking place in Australia please send the details by email to projectfffaif@yahoo.com.au
Show your support for FFFAIF’s campaign to have greater recognition of the sacrifice of Australian soldiers at Fromelles by attending one of these services.
FROMELLES IS NOT HONOURED ON THE NATIONAL OR ANY STATE MEMORIAL IN AUSTRALIA.
FFFAIF SUPPORTS ALL EFFORTS TO RECOGNISE FROMELLES ON OR AT THE NATIONAL AND ALL STATE MEMORIALS THAT PRESENTLY LIST BATTLES BY NAME.
Call back later to see if there is MORE NEWS
If you are visiting Fromelles on 19 July the village’s commemorative service will be held at 5:30pm.