The Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery contains the graves of 2142 soldiers from Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and New Zealand who died on the battlefields of France and Flanders in the First World War.
Beyond the cemetery is the Australian National Memorial which commemorates all Australians who served in France and Belgium. Its walls are engraved with the names of nearly 11 000 Australian soldiers whose final resting places are unknown. The scale of loss, from one field of war and from one nation alone, is beyond imagination.
The Memorial Tower stands at the centre of the memorial. The inscription on each side of the door, to the left in English and to the right in French, reads “TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND IN MEMORY OF THE AUSTRALIAN FORCE IN FRANCE AND FLANDERS 1916-1918 AND OF ELEVEN THOUSAND WHO FELL IN FRANCE AND HAVE NO KNOWN GRAVE”. Above the door is The Rising Sun badge, the official insignia of the Australian Army. The view from inside the tower takes in the cemetery and beyond to the surrounding countryside, once a battlefield but now at peace.
Nice pictures!
Thank you!
You are welcome! Do drop by my blog too!
I will!
Thanks! Cheers!
Love the photos, such a beautiful and solemn place.
Thanks for sharing.
Thank you. It was also very peaceful and the gardens around the graves were beautiful.
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Cemeteries are wonderful in that they encourage meditation…quiet thoughts of life…and death. Thanks for these photos that evoke memories of those who gave their all.
I find war cemeteries do that even more than others, when I read the ages of the young men. I can’t imagine how very courageous they must have been.
Last Fall, we returned to Honolulu for my mother-in-law’s funeral at Punchbowl Cemetery, the national military cemetery of the Pacific. My father-in-law, who died years ago had served, so his wife was buried with him.
Punchbowl Cemetery is breathtaking in its scenery…and serenity. It truly is a destination where one can sit and ponder life and death…and everything in-between.
Good entry – it seems one or two of us have put this interpretation on the challenge.
thank you for sharing this.
You’re most welcome. Thanks for your comment.
Very moving interpretation.
Thank you. It is an emotional place to visit.
This really is ‘beyond’! Great take on the challenge 😉
Thanks. I like to find a twist in the story!
Wonderful images and remembrance!
Hopefully remembering will stop it from ever happening again. Thanks!
That’s a very nice tribute to those who gave their lives for the freedom we enjoy today 😉
Thank you, it’s easy to forget that the life we lead didn’t just happen that way.
I’m so glad to find memorials like this throughout the world for fallen soldiers. It’s so sad that so many so young had to lose their lives in war. Beautiful pictures.
Thank you. It is a very moving place to visit.
That first photo is a little strange, not the photo, but the placement of the cemetery. It looks like it is in the middle of no where.
It’s actually not very far from Villers-Brettoneux, only about a five minute drive, and there are many other small villages close by. We commented when we were there about how close all the villages were, which was a good thing for the soldiers because they went everywhere on foot. Nothing in France is in the middle of nowhere, if you get what I mean!
Could you tell me by any chance what year these photos were taken in?
Thanks
They were taken in 2008. Why do you ask?
Long story short, I understand that the memorial has undergone significant landscaping changes since around 2010. I wanted to know if the trees in the graveyard (like shown in your photos) were from before or after the changes. Thanks again for your reply.
Also, I was wondering if I might have your permission to use your 4th image (of the memorial/flags) in my entry for the ACT Chief Minister’s Anzac Spirit Prize. I would include it 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.” I would, of course, give you appropriate credit. Thanks again!
(I am a year 9 student)
Sophie, I’m very happy to give permission for you to use my photo. But it’s a very small file and might not be good enough quality. If you give me you email address I can send you a copy of the original, which will be of a much higher resolution.
That would be fantastic thank you. Please send it to 0164699@schoolsnet.act.edu.au
I’m on holidays at the moment so I will do it on the weekend.
Thats fine thanks.
Thanks again for letting me use the image, I just found out that I was actually one of the two winners of the competition!
My finished entry, if you want to see it, is available on YouTube at:
https://youtu.be/rwRjKf0IGuw. It looks best if you play it in a high quality.
Thanks so much again for letting me include your picture!
Sophie, that is so exciting. Congratulations – I’m so pleased for you. I looked at your entry and it’s wonderful. What is your prize?