![\"\"](\"http:\/\/fffaif.files.wordpress.com\/2009\/09\/2nd-division-memorial_mont-st-quentin_sml.jpg\" "\\"2nd")
<\/a>Photo:<\/strong> \u00a02nd Division Memorial, Mont St Quentin [Ray Hudson]<\/p>\nThe Minister\u2019s media release of\u00a0Saturday 30 January 2010\u00a0stated:
\nCommemoration of Australian service on the Western Front will be enhanced with plans for several new interpretive facilities at major battles sites as part of the Australian Government\u2019s $10 million Western Front Remembrance Trail.
\nMinister for Veterans\u2019 Affairs Alan Griffin today announced he was working with French authorities for a new museum and commemorative facility at Mont St Quentin.
\nMarshal Ferdinand Foch, supreme commander of all Allied forces in France, spoke of the seizure of Mont St Quentin and P\u00e9ronne as one of the \u2018finest feats of arms in a time rich in innumerable deeds of heroism\u2019.\u00a0 The battle involved vicious close quarter fighting that cost some 3,000 Australian casualties.
\nEight Victoria Crosses were awarded for the four day action, more than in any other battle in which the Australians fought and only one less than the number they had won during the entire eight months of the Gallipoli campaign.
\nPlans are underway at Mont St Quentin to transform an old church into an interpretive facility which will also include walking trails to remnants of a trench network and the nearby 2nd Australian Division memorial. This project is being developing in partnership with the L\u2019Historial de la Grande Guerre museum in Peronne and with the assistance of P\u00e9ronne authorities.
\n\u201cThe new facility will honour the Australian capture of Mont St Quentin, recognised as one of Australia\u2019s finest military achievements,\u201d Mr Griffin said.
\nRemnants of an original communication trench captured by the Australians during the attack on Mont St Quentin will be restored and become part of an educational battlefield experience. Agreement has just been reached allowing access to the land on which these trenches lie, and with this foundation in place development of the new facility can proceed with some certainty.
\n\u201cI am pleased to be working with local French communities to make the Western Front Remembrance Trail a reality and demonstrate our commitment to preserving our shared wartime history for future generations,\u201d Mr Griffin said.
\nThe Australian Government has committed $10 million over four years to work in partnership with local communities on the Western Front to develop and upgrade facilities at seven sites in France and Belgium where Australians fought together. \u00a0In addition to Mont St Quentin, planning for a new facility at Fromelles is underway and existing facilities at Villers-Bretonneux, Bullecourt, Pozieres, Ypres and Zonnebeke will also be enhanced.<\/p>\n
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The announcement appeared in the following media reports:<\/p>\n
Memorial site planned as Fromelles Diggers reburied<\/em>: Click here<\/a><\/strong> to read the report by Paola Totaro which appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald<\/em> and the Brisbane Times.<\/em><\/p>\n World War I trench siezed by diggers to be restored:<\/em> Click here<\/strong><\/a> to read the report by Belinda Tasker <\/em>which appeared in The Courier Mail,<\/em> The Herald Sun <\/em>and Perth Now.<\/em><\/p>\n *****<\/em><\/p>\n The Families and Friends of the First AIF<\/strong><\/em> applauds\u00a0the joint Australian\u2013UK decision to conduct a full DNA testing program on the remains of Australian and British soldiers found in mass graves at Pheasant Wood (Fromelles), and for their continuing commitment to identify as many of the fallen as is possible. We also thank the Australian, UK and French governments for affording dignified individual reburials for these soldiers, buried by\u00a0German soldiers following the Battle of Fromelles\u00a0on 19\/20 July 1916, in the new Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery with services commencing on 30th<\/sup> January 2010.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In April 2009, the Minister for Veteran\u2019s Affairs, The Hon. Alan Griffin MP announced the concept of an integrated trail of commemoration on the Western Front to foster a deeper appreciation of what Australians achieved and endured in the main … Continue reading