Commemorations at Fromelles
92nd Anniversary The Battle of Fromelles
Saturday 19th July 2008
The small French village of Fromelles in northern France was once again a place of pilgrimage when it commemorated the 92nd anniversary of the Battle of Fromelles. The commemorations began at 5:00pm at VC Corner Military Cemetery with villagers, dignitaries, guests and visitors gathering for a wreath laying service.
Photo: Master of Ceromonies, Jean Marie Bailleul and members of Sing Australia choir
Colin Slater, National Director of Sing Australia and 87 members of the choir were at the service where they performed a bracket of songs, before several members laid floral tributes to family members who are commemorated at VC Corner.
Photo: Members of Sing Australia laid wreaths during the service
Wreaths were laid before the sounding of the Last Post, a minute’s silence and playing of Reveille.
Photo: Australian Army representative laying a wreath at VC Corner
The Ode was recited by Carole Laignel, Secretary of the Association Fromelles-Weppes-Terre de Memoire 14-18 (F.W.T.M. 14-18 or Fromelles Museum)
The commemorations then continued at the Australian Memorial Park, Fromelles where the deputy mayor of Fromelles, Bernard Lebleu, gave his welcoming address. The english translation of the speech was read by Carole Laignel, Secretary, F.W.T.M. 14-18 (Fromelles Museum):
It is with real pleasure and emotion that I am here on behalf of the mayor Mr. Hubert Huchette, who has gone to Melbourne with Martial Delebarre to represent France and, in particular, our small village of Fromelles, for the inauguration of the copy of our Cobbers statue, where we are today. For Mr. Huchette, the town council and me, this visit improves our friendship with Australia.
When the Association for the Remembrance of the Battle of Fromelles was established, I became an active member with the President Benoît Delattre. The fields which I work in this area have frequently been excavated. Within the last few years the Association has uncovered, in the course of four excavations, an underground structure dating from 1915. It is eleven metres deep with a main tunnel one hundred metres long. Sometimes, I feel that I walk in the footsteps of the soldiers and the traces of the bad living conditions which they have left in the countryside.
2008 : An exceptional year
For the first time we are commemorating the anniversary of the Battle of Fromelles 19th-20th July 1916, simultaneously both here and in Australia. Since the end of WWI, the Australians have been searching for the bodies of their soldiers who were killed in the German lines and buried close to the village. Following the positive site investigations in 2007 at Pheasant Wood in Fromelles, the team from Glasgow University led by Dr. Tony Pollard, supported by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and the British Government and under the control of the Australian Army with General Mike O’Brien, Colonel Skorowski, military attaché at the Australian Embassy, Sam Rossato and historian Roger Lee, undertook an excavation to uncover the Australian and British bodies buried behind the German line since 1916.
This event touched us deeply and made us realise the horror of war. As a result of these digs, the people of Fromelles today feel closer to those men who gave their lives for our freedom.
Thank you so much to everyone who participated in this event. Meeting the media from so many different nations has been very interesting to us. Through this dialogue we will get to know one another and create a peaceful place.
That was the reason behind the invitation given to Colonel Duhr, German military attaché in Paris. So, we respond to the wishes of our Minister for Veterans, Mr. Bocquel, to welcome our German friends to 2008’s service of commemoration. This is a new step to peace.
Lest we forget.
Photo: German military attaché, Colonel Duhr laying a wreath at VC Corner
Wreaths were laid at The Cobbers statue and the Last Post and Reveille sounded, followed by the singing of the French and Australian National Anthem.
Photo: Peter Barton laying a wreath at the Cobbers Statue for the Glasgow University Archaeological Research Division (GUARD).
The Official Party and others present then moved to the field adjacent to Pheasant Wood, the site of the recent archaeological excavations, to conclude the formal part of the commemorations. This included the reciting of the poem In Flanders Fields and the singing of La Marseilles, Advance Australia Fair and God Save The Queen
Photo: Salutations to flag bearers by official party
The official party members present at the service were:
-His Excellence David Ritchi – ambassadeur d’Australie en France
– Le Colonel Skowronski – attaché militaire à l’ambassade d’Australie
– Le Colonel Duhr – attaché militaire à l’ambassade d’Allemagne en France
– Sir Ian Andrews – sous secrétaire d’état à la défense en Grande Bretagne
– Lord Faulkner du parlement britannique – Chairman of the All Party War Graves and Battlefields Heritage Group (APWGBHG)
– M. David Symons – directeur de la CWGC ( patron de Martial)
-M. Peter Barton -co secretary de APWGBHG – a représenté Dr Tony Pollard directeur centre for Battlefiled Archeology Glasgow University
– M. Bernard Lebleu – adjoint au maire de Fromelles
– M. Francis Delattre – président de l’ UNC – AFN de Fromelles
– M. Mike Bemrose – représentant les familles britanniques – hommage à son grand père décédé le 19.7.1916 à Fromelles
– Mme Carole Laignel – secrétaire de la FWTM14-18
– Mme Victoria Burbidge – déléguée de FWTM en Grande Bretagne
– Jean Marie Bailleul – vice président de FWTM14-18
Photo: Wreaths laid at Pheasant Wood.
An invitation was then extended to share a ‘glass of friendship’ at the Salle du temps Libre.
Photo: Madame Demassiet talking with historian Peter Barton at the conclusion of the Pheasant Wood commemorative service.
Photo: Colonel Christian Duhr and Carole Laignel at the Salle du temps Libre.
All of the above photos were generously supplied by Carole Laignel, Secretary of the Association Fromelles-Weppes-Terre de Memoire 14-18 (F.W.T.M. 14-18 ), The Fromelles Museum.
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The Australian Government’s Minister for Minister for Defence Science and Personnel Warren Snowdon, released the following statement to the media on Saturday:
REMEMBERING THE BATTLE OF FROMELLES
The Minister for Defence Science and Personnel, the Hon Warren Snowdon MP, today called on Australians to remember and honour the sacrifice of our soldiers at the Battle of Fromelles, 19th July, 1916.
“The Battle of Fromelles was the Australian Imperial Force’s first on the Western Front and remains the single bloodiest day in the history of the Australian Army,” Minister Snowdon said.
“On this 92nd anniversary, we pay tribute to the incredible courage and determination of the Australian and British soldiers who attacked the heavily fortified German frontline.”
The battle cost more than 1,700 Australian lives, and many of the dead were recovered and buried by the defending Bavarian troops in graves behind the enemy’s line. Still others lay unrecovered in No Man’s Land between the two front lines until after the war.
Whilst post-war recovery operations found and re-interred a great many remains in permanent Commonwealth War Graves cemeteries, more than a hundred from this battle were never located.
A recent archaeological excavation near Fromelles, at Pheasant Wood, has identified the mass graves of many of the unaccounted from this battle and confirmed historical research by Mr Lambis Englezos of Melbourne who brought the site to the attention of the Australian Army. The limited excavation revealed the presence of a large number of human remains as well as material evidence which confirmed that the remains were Australian and British soldiers who had fallen during the Battle of Fromelles. No remains were exhumed during the process.
“The Australian and British Governments are committed to appropriately commemorating these brave soldiers who died in the service of their country,” Minister Snowdon said.
“I have recently written to the British Minister for Veterans, the Hon. Derek Twigg, to formally confirm his agreement to draft a joint approach for commemoration at the site. Once we have secured the agreement of the French Government and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, I will announce the Governments’ decision.”
Meanwhile in Melbourne today, attended by the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Alan Griffin, a replica of the “Cobbers” statue that stands in the Australian Memorial Park at Fromelles was unveiled at the Shrine of Remembrance.
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The Australian Government’s Department of Veterans Affairs also released this media report on the unveiling of the Cobbers Statue in Melbourne:
“COBBERS” STATUE – TRIBUTE TO FROMELLES FALLEN
On the 92nd anniversary of the Battle of Fromelles a replica of the magnificent “Cobbers” statue at Fromelles was unveiled at the Shrine of Remembrance today by the Victorian Premier John Brumby.
Speaking at the reception, the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Alan Griffin said the iconic “Cobbers” statue was a fitting tribute to the men who served on the battlefields along the Western Front. “The statue tells the story of Sergeant Simon Fraser who, after the horrific 24-hour battle that was the Battle of Fromelles, returned to the battlefield with his fellow comrades to rescue wounded Australians,” Mr Griffin said. “Under fire they managed to rescue around 300 men. On one of his trips back to the battlefield Sergeant Fraser heard a plea from one soldier ‘Don’t forget me cobber’, and he didn’t.”
“The battle was, and remains, the worst 24 hours in Australian wartime history. 5,533 Australians were casualties of the Battle of Fromelles including 1917 killed, 3146 wounded, and 470 taken prisoner.”
Mr Griffin said the original “Cobbers” statue by Australian sculptor Peter Corlett stands in the Australian Memorial Park at Fromelles in France.
“I am pleased Australia now has a replica of this great statue. The many thousands of visitors to the Shrine each year will now be able to see a great tribute to the mateship of Australians on the Western Front,” he said.
Mr Griffin said honouring Australia’s past and present servicemen and women is a priority of the Rudd Government. “Australia suffered its greatest losses on the battlefields across the Western Front. This year, to recognise the 90th anniversary of the final battles fought there, the Government held the first Anzac Day Dawn Service at Villers-Bretonneux. This service will now be held every Anzac Day.
“Later this year, the Australian Corps Memorial at Le Hamel will be re-dedicated, and the story of Australians on the Western Front is now told on my Department’s new website, http://www.ww1westernfront.gov.au/, ” he said. “The website takes us on a journey to the places where Australians served and died, and it provides a vivid picture of our wartime history through the experiences of our servicemen and women.”
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FFFAIF Policy Statement
The Families and Friends of the First AIF believes that the Australian Government through the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs should commit the to re-burial of the “missing of Fromelles” with individual graves and headstones in a new Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery at Pheasant Wood after DNA testing.
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.
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