It was very special visiting Villers Bretonneux on Remembrance Day and so heart warming when we were recognised as Australians. We were stopped at a set of traffic lights in the mini bus when a little girl about four spotted our red poppies and Australian flags. She was so excited, she started waving to us as her poor mum was trying to get her safely across the road.
Our tour took us to both the memorial and to Victoria School. This is the view from the memorial down the hill towards the road.
The site at Villers Bretonneux comprises both a cemetery and a Memorial to the Missing. On the walls of the stone pavilions (which you can see in the photo below) the names of 11,000 Australians who died in France and have no known grave are listed. ANZAC day services are held every year in front of these pavilions.
One of the names we were interested in finding on the memorial belonged to Private John Hough.
Private John Hough was killed in action at Pozieres on 1 September 1916. He was born in Cowra and his mother Mary Ann was a cousin of Grandfie Dwyer's.
As you can see from the plaque above the memorial at Villers Bretonneux was damaged during the Second World War. There are bullet holes in the stone pillars of the pavilion.
Next stop was the Victoria School which is located in the town of Villers Bretonneux. It was built between 1923 and 1927 with money raised by school children in Victoria - hence the name.
There are reminders of Australia everywhere! The school's hall is decorated with a number of carvings of native Australian animals. These were done by an Australian sculptor and his students from Daylesford Techical College.
Even the school notices have an Australian theme. We found this on the door to the hall!
As well as housing the school, the site includes a museum containing items and photographs from the war. Given the number of cemeteries we visited in Belgium and France we found this recruitment poster distressing but an obvious reflection of the sentiment of the time.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi!
ReplyDeleteI am a year 9 student studying WW1 and I was wondering if the photos of the front of the Australian National Memorial and of the plaque at the Victoria School (above) were taken by you. If so, I was wondering if I could have your permission to use the images in my entry for the ACT Chief Minister's Anzac Spirit Prize. I would include the images in a video I am making with the purpose of "exploring the enduring connection between the people of France and Australia, and what this important relationship teaches us about courage, sacrifice, resilience and the future". The Territory would have permission to use the contents of the video for "non-commercial purposes, including for promotional purposes in relation to the Prize, and future Territory prizes, events and initiatives." It would be good if you could get back to me as soon as possible as all entries must be submitted by February 3, 2017. Thank you very much for your time (and merry Christmas),
Sophie