Fromelles - Commemoration of a Battle

Visitors to the battlefield at Fromelles even these days easily can picture the 1916 location of the British and Australian front lines, no man's land and the German front line. VC Corner stands slightly ahead of the right hand side of the Australian sector and looks across a flat field towards the Sugar Loaf Salient which was the well fortified German strongpoint that severely impeded the Australian attack. To the left is the Memorial Park standing on the old German front line. The flat terrain gives some idea of the lack of cover for troops attacking the enemy but the slight rise to the top of Aubers Ridge shows that the Germans had the huge advantage of observation across the British lines in this sector and this, along with the effectiveness of the Bavarian Division, proved decisive in 1916.

In the village on top of the ridge is a splendid museum containing a superb collection of artefacts from private collections as well as those found on the battlefield. It commemorates the village's experience in WW1 and especially the 1915 and 1916 attacks in the fields below Aubers Ridge. A mass grave has been identified behind the German lines and a new cemetery (Pheasant Wood) is to be created in 2009/10 for the bodies discovered there. A full account of the battle can be found in 'Fromelles 1916' by Paul Cobb History Press.