Day 3 - VILLERS BRETONNEUX

After Pozieres it was of to Villers Bretonneux, a 30 minute drive through the beautiful French countryside. The Australians and French had secured Villers Bretonneux after days of intense fighting in which 1200 Australians lost their lives. They were able to establish a new front line, marking the end of the German offensive on the Somme. A parricular poignant experience was visitng "Victoria School" which was built from the donations of Victorian school students in Australia on the same site of the one destroyed in 1918.

In the courtyard of the school, in addition to an Australian fresco in the Aboriginal style made by the children of the school and inaugurated at Anzac day 2009, is written on the courtyard in green letters on a yellow background the following message :

"DO NOT FORGET AUSTRALIA"

This message, translated as "never forget Australia" expresses the wish of the duty of memory and recognition. It is at the origin of the close ties between the people of Australia and the inhabitants of Villers-Bretonneux.

This inscription is in French in each classroom in the school.

While at Villers-Bretonneux we also had an opportunity to visit the Sir John Monash Centre which is set on the grounds of the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery in northern France. The boys got to experience the Australian Western Front through a series of interactive multimedia experiences. While at the cemetary the boys placed poppies on a number of soldiers headstones as well as locating a couple of Townsville born soldiers.

This was the last stop for our tour guide Perrine. The boys presented her with an Australian scarf to thank her for providing the group with her knowledge of the surrounding countryside and the events that occured there during World War I.

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