Military History Tours          On Tour - Our Other ANZAC Day 27 April 2012

Today’s first stop was at Dernacourt overlooking the railway line and the underpass that the Germans tried to force.

The next stop was at Sailly-le-Sec to visit the 3rd Division Memorial.

The next stop was outside the brickyards above Vaux sur Somme where the Red Baron crashed his plane after he was shot down; then to the road side sign about the demise of the Red Baron.

We visited the Australian Corps Memorial above Le Hamel. We had presentations about the Battle of Le Hamel on 4 July 1918 and the Battle of Amiens on 8 August 1918. We were impressed by the standard of information now available on the site.

We returned to the Australian National Memorial at Fouilloy. We found some names on the wall and had a small remembrance ceremony.

  

We visited the Adelaide cemetery on the outskirts of Villers Bretonneux.

The first half of the poem “Two Graves” was read at the grave of Frank O’Grady who was the brother of John Hitchen’s maternal grandmother.

Then a brief on the 13 Brigade attack around the southern side of Villers Brettonneux was given.

A packed lunch was enjoyed in the open area in front of the Town Hall; then we drove down to the Victoria School.

  

We visited Heath Cemetery to meet the wishes of a number in the group who graves to visit.

The courtesy vehicle took some of the group to Proyart to find a special memorial.

Outside Proyart adjacent to where Percy Statton of 40^th Battalion won his VC on 12 August 1918 by silencing 4 German machine guns, we visited the German Cemetery.