ANZAC Day 2023 in France

Our most memorable ANZAC Day ever!

Up at 2am. Half hour drive to Villers-Bretonneux train station then shuttle bus to the Australian National Memorial about 2km out of town.

4am start of the pre-service. Video presentations telling of soldiers’ personal stories accompanied by musical items  by Australian Army Band. Tony knew a lot of the people in the band and we had met most of the band in Amiens over a drink or two.

5:30am Dawn Service. Cold (5 degrees),wet and windy(you will hear it in the video). At least we had no shrapnel, poison gas, barbed wire or bullets whizzing past us!! A really moving experience.

Following the Dawn Service, a hot cup of tea went down well to warm the body, then into Villers-Bretonneux for the 8.30am French Service at their town memorial.

 

Back home for a bit of a sleep….

…then a 40 minute drive to the village of Bullecourt for their French Service in the town square at 3pm to mark ANZAC Day. Surprisingly, the crowd here was sizable, given that it is just a small village. There was a grand team of adult ‘Porte de Drapeau’ (the flag bearers) as well as a large team of children flag bearers training for their future role in the community. 

Following the service, a short march to the Digger Memorial for an Australian Service at 4.30pm and then back into town for complimentary champagne and yummy French snacks.

It was fantastic to see that, now 3 to 4 generations on, the French are still so grateful and thankful for the sacrifice of our Diggers. There were over a thousand people at  each of the French Services, some Australians, but the vast majority were locals.