The Battle of Fromelles during The First World War started on 19th July 1916 and was over the following day. The assault commenced near the village of Fromelles in Northern France and was intended to remove the emphasis off of the battle which was taking place fifty miles to the south at the Battle of the Somme which had started on 1st July 1916.
History has implied this particular battle was quite useless since it cost countless men their lives for little purpose. British and Australian troops were both asked to storm the frontlines throughout the Great War. This battle, which lasted only moments is thought to have claimed the lives of no less than five thousand Australians and fifteen hundred British troopers.
It would take 94 years before the troopers were laid to rest in a cemetery, as they were initially buried in a mass grave but now lay to rest quietly at the Pheasant Wood Cemetery which is dedicated to their extraordinary sacrifices. Fromelles had been a combined effort by the British forces and those who were in Australian military troops which were known as the Australian Imperial Force.
It is thought to have been a disaster as the attack itself was unsuccessful in its attempts to create a diversion for the Germans. Just one of the reasons historians suggest it was a disaster was because the soldiers were told to go forward in the daylight, which made them a target for the Germans as they were in clear view from the moment they went over the top.
Today you'll find in the Fromelles Australian Memorial Park a statue that honours the many heroic soldiers that were witnessed carrying out the injured. One of those troops Sergeant Simon Fraser from the 57 Battalion tells the tale of how he personally set about carrying one of the wounded and heard a weak voice needing assistance who he helped pull to safety. Sergeant Fraser later lost his life the following year as he fought in the Great War.
History has implied this particular battle was quite useless since it cost countless men their lives for little purpose. British and Australian troops were both asked to storm the frontlines throughout the Great War. This battle, which lasted only moments is thought to have claimed the lives of no less than five thousand Australians and fifteen hundred British troopers.
It would take 94 years before the troopers were laid to rest in a cemetery, as they were initially buried in a mass grave but now lay to rest quietly at the Pheasant Wood Cemetery which is dedicated to their extraordinary sacrifices. Fromelles had been a combined effort by the British forces and those who were in Australian military troops which were known as the Australian Imperial Force.
It is thought to have been a disaster as the attack itself was unsuccessful in its attempts to create a diversion for the Germans. Just one of the reasons historians suggest it was a disaster was because the soldiers were told to go forward in the daylight, which made them a target for the Germans as they were in clear view from the moment they went over the top.
Today you'll find in the Fromelles Australian Memorial Park a statue that honours the many heroic soldiers that were witnessed carrying out the injured. One of those troops Sergeant Simon Fraser from the 57 Battalion tells the tale of how he personally set about carrying one of the wounded and heard a weak voice needing assistance who he helped pull to safety. Sergeant Fraser later lost his life the following year as he fought in the Great War.
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Pheasant Wood is the one of the latest military cemeteries on the Western Front and many Australian soldiers who fell at Fromelles .. Also published at The Battle Of Fromelles Fought In The First World War.