The Dawn Service 2008

The Gathering

A few days beforehand I had spoken with some Australians and they said that perhaps a thousand or so Australians would venture to France to support this: their other Anzac Day.

The organisers went as far as putting out 2 000 seats for us all which made a nice change because for the communal commemorations we usually have to stand.

By 0400 hours on a dry but chilly morning the road leading from Corbie was already packed with parked vehicles. Coaches, cars and camper vans with a wide variety of licence plates showing just how far some had come to attend this unique ceremony.

Officers from the Australian Defence Forces drawn from everywhere in Europe acted as ushers and offering a traditionally warm Australian welcome. No doubt for some, the shock of a very early start was eased by the sound of a friendly accent.

The seats were soon filled and on came the pilgrims. For this is a pilgrimage for many. Travelling from the far side of the world as their relatives had done 90 years ago to these rolling hills of Picardie.

Stories were swapped as each explained to their neighbours the reason for their coming.

Some had been in previous years to attend the village commemorations both here and at Bullecourt in Artois, but for perhaps the greater majority the battlefields of the Western Front had always played second fiddle to the traditional sentiment for Gallipoli.

The Service

Major General Paul Stevens AO (Retd) acted as the Master of Ceremonies cajoling us to find seats or at least keep the aisles clear. The temperature seemed to drop as dawn approached but perhaps that was just our imagination.

Cadets from Newcastle Grammar School moved amongst us in uniforms from the First World War and although they all seemed very young you do not have to venture very far from this ridge to find the graves of 16 and 17 year old soldiers.

Then the catafalque party formed by members of Australia's Federation Guard slow marched to the sound of a single drum to take up their posts either side of the tower's entrance. To a slow roll of the drum they reversed arms and stood guard over a replica of the Villers-Bretonneux Cross.

The original cross is held by St George's Cathedral in Perth and it was their choir which led the hymns throughout the morning.

Over ninety years ago a young Private Alan Griffin arrived in France and took part in the battles on the Western Front until injury finally saw him out of the war - one could almost say one of the lucky ones who escaped the march to victory that would claim so many more lives.

Giving the commemorative address, his great grandson The Honourable Alan Griffin MP, Minister for Veterans' Affairs pointedly remarked that:

Ninety years later, the events around Anzac Day 1918 are still remembered and marked here in France, but this story is not as well known in Australia as it should be. It must be said that our strong connection with the Anzacs at Gallipoli has over the years overshadowed our commemoration of the Australians who gave so much on the Western Front.

During the battle for the village in 1918 Australian troops crossed over the hill where the memorial stands and the grand-nephew of the Brigade Commander Harold Pompey Elliott gave the first reading

Coming to a close

The service finished with the traditional wreath laying, sounding of the last post, a minute's silence and then the national anthems of France and Australia. The public were invited to place flowers if they so wished and soon the steps of the memorial were deep in floral tributes from individuals and families.

The Département of the Somme provided a refreshment tent and this was extremely welcome: just to have a cup of hot coffee to put some heat into otherwise frozen fingers.

To the side of the monument looking out across to where the Red Baron was brought down, a solitary piper: Bill Johnston from Brisbane Boys' College, played for himself and his thoughts, away from the crowd.

Following the service West Australian Premier: Alan Carpenter presented the St Jean-Baptiste church with the stone replica of the Villers-Bretonneux Cross. The original wooden one was made by West Australian soldiers in the aftermath of the battle from the wooden ruins of a local church.

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Villers Bretonneux 2008
The Australian War Memorial
Bullecourt
Villers Bretonneux