The Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux is the main memorial to

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

military personnel killed on the Western Front during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. It is located on the Route Villiers-Bretonneux (D 23), between the towns of Fouilloy and

Villers-Bretonneux Villers-Bretonneux () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography Villers-Bretonneux is situated some 19 km due east of Amiens, on the D1029 road and the A29 motorway. Villers-Bretonneux bord ...

, in the Somme département,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. The memorial lists 10,773 names of soldiers of the Australian Imperial Force with no known grave who were killed between 1916, when Australian forces arrived in France and Belgium, and the end of the war. The location was chosen to commemorate the role played by Australian soldiers in the

Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux The Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux (also Actions of Villers-Bretonneux, after the First Battles of the Somme, 1918) took place from 24 to 27 April 1918, during the German spring offensive to the east of Amiens. It is notable for being the ...

(24–27 April 1918). Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, the memorial consists of a tower within the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, which also includes a Cross of Sacrifice. The tower is surrounded by walls and panels on which the names of the missing dead are listed. The main inscription is in both French and English, on either side of the entrance to the tower. The memorial and cemetery are maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

History of the memorial

Following the war, the commander of the

Australian Corps The Australian Corps was a World War I army corps that contained all five Australian infantry divisions serving on the Western Front. It was the largest corps fielded by the British Empire in France. At its peak the Australian Corps numbered 10 ...

, Lieutenant General Sir

Talbot Hobbs Lieutenant General Sir Joseph John Talbot Hobbs, (24 August 1864 – 21 April 1938) was an Australian architect and First World War general. Early life Hobbs was born in London, the son of Joseph and his wife Frances Ann Hobbs (née Wilson). E ...

chose the sites of several Australian memorials in Europe and proposed that a memorial to all of the Australian dead on the Western Front be built in France, in the Villers-Bretonneux area. The proposal was approved by the Australian government – still led by wartime Prime Minister Billy Hughes – in 1923. A competition to design the memorial was held in 1925. It was open only to Australian veterans and their parents; their entries were required to use only stone quarried in Australia. The competition was won by the Melbourne architect William Lucas. In 1929, the French government gave its approval to the project. The

Scullin government Scullin may refer to: In places: * Scullin, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Division of Scullin, an electorate in the Australian House of Representatives People with the surname Scullin: * James Scullin (1876–1953), Prime Mi ...

suspended the project in 1930, due to the Great Depression and the projected cost, as well as dissatisfaction with aesthetic elements of Lucas's design.''The Memorial to the Missing of the Somme'' (

Gavin Stamp Gavin Mark Stamp (15 March 194830 December 2017) was a British writer, television presenter and architectural historian. Education Stamp was educated at Dulwich College in South London from 1959 to 1967 as part of the "Dulwich Experiment", then a ...

, 2007), p. 94 Following a 1935 visit to Australia by the head of the Imperial War Graves Commission, Sir Fabian Ware, a cheaper design was sought, using French stone, from Sir Edwin Lutyens. Construction of the memorial took place in 1936 and 1937. It was unveiled on 22 July 1938 by King George VI, whose words were broadcast directly to Australia. Other dignitaries present included the French President

Albert Lebrun Albert François Lebrun (; 29 August 1871 – 6 March 1950) was a French politician, President of France from 1932 to 1940. He was the last president of the Third Republic. He was a member of the centre-right Democratic Republican Alliance (A ...

, who also gave a speech, and the Australian deputy prime minister

Earle Page Sir Earle Christmas Grafton Page (8 August 188020 December 1961) was an Australian surgeon and politician who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Australia, holding office for 19 days after the death of Joseph Lyons in 1939. He was the leade ...

. Accompanying the King was his wife Queen Elizabeth, whose brother was killed at the

Battle of Loos The Battle of Loos took place from 1915 in France on the Western Front, during the First World War. It was the biggest British attack of 1915, the first time that the British used poison gas and the first mass engagement of New Army units. Th ...

. This memorial was the last of the great memorials to the missing of World War I to be built, and the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

broke out just over a year after its unveiling.Villers–Bretonneux, Australian National Memorial
Australians on the Western Front 1914–1918, Department of Veterans' Affairs and Board of Studies NSW – accessed 31 December 2009 During the unveiling ceremony, the King closed his speech with the words: "They rest in peace, while over them all Australia's tower keeps watch and ward." Every year on 25 April, an Anzac Day Dawn Service is conducted at the memorial by the Australian Government Department of Veterans' Affairs. The service commences at 5.30am and is followed by community services in Villers-Bretonneux and Bullecourt. The cemetery originally included 60

hornbeam Hornbeams are hardwood trees in the flowering plant genus ''Carpinus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The 30–40 species occur across much of the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Origin of names The common English name ''hornbeam ...

trees, planted in 1928. These were removed in 2009 as they reached the end of their lives, and were replaced by new trees as part of plans for the centenary commemorations in 2018. The Sir John Monash Centre, an

interpretive centre An interpretation centre, interpretive centre, or visitor interpretive centre is an institution for dissemination of knowledge of natural or cultural heritage. Interpretation centres are a kind of new-style museum, often associated with visitor ...

behind the Villers–Bretonneux Australian National Memorial, opened in April 2018.

Notable Commemoratees

*Private Thomas Cooke – New Zealand-born Australian Army VC recipient. File:Villers-Bretonneux mémorial australien (entrée cimetière pavillon Sud) 2.jpg, Southern entrance pavilion to the cemetery File:Villers-Bretonneux Australian National Memorial 1.JPG, The Stone of Remembrance at the cemetery entrance File:Villers-Bretonneux mémorial australien (croix et tour en automne) 1.jpg, The Cross of Sacrifice and the tower in October 2007 File:Villers-Bretonneux Australian National Memorial 2.JPG, The Cross of Sacrifice and the tower in May 2014The original hornbeam trees planted in 1928 were removed in 2009. File:Villers-Bretonneux Australian National Memorial 7.JPG, Shelter forming the left wing of the memorial File:Villers-Bretonneux mémorial australien (coquelicot et noms) 1.jpg, Some of the 11,000 names of the missing dead on the memorial File:Villers-Bretonneux Australian National Memorial 6.JPG, The inscriptions in English and French either side of the memorial tower entrance File:Australian War Memorial in France VILLERS BRETONNEUX MILITARY CEMETERY IMG 3020.JPG, Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery viewed from the top of the tower in July 2008 File:AWM Cemetery Villers-Bretoneux 2012.jpg, Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery viewed from the top of the tower in April 2012 File:Australian Memorial - Sir John Monash Center.jpg, View of the Sir John Monash Center, looking towards the tower at the Villiers-Bretonneux Australian War Memorial, photographed in 2019

Footnotes and references

External links

Commonwealth War Graves Commission details of the Villers–Bretonneux MemorialVillers–Bretonneux, Australian National Memorial
– history and description of the memorial and pictures of the unveiling ceremony and of details of the memorial (Department of Veteran Affairs, Australia)
British-Pathé Newsreel report that includes the unveiling of the memorial
unveiling is at 2:14 to 2:51 (

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)
''Australian National War Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France''
(William Lucas, 1930, Argonaut Press) – book by Lucas on his rejected plans for the memorial (catalogue entry from the National Library of Australia)
Anzac Day Dawn Service at the Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux
{{DEFAULTSORT:Villers-Bretonneux Australian National Memorial Australian military memorials Commonwealth War Graves Commission memorials World War I memorials in France Buildings and structures completed in 1938 Monuments and memorials in Somme (department) Australia–France relations Works of Edwin Lutyens in France War memorials by Edwin Lutyens Australian diaspora in Europe