V.C. Corner at Fromelles

The Australian Imperial Force was very active in the Artois region and Fromelles is a poignant place for Australians. The Battle of Fromelles was fought there from 19th to 20th July 1916.

 

In a twenty seven hour period the Australian 5th Division suffered 5533 casualties, with 1917 killed, of whom 1299 were unidentified. Also approximately 400 were taken prisoner. To illustrate the extent of the losses the 60th Battalion Victoria Regiment started the battle with 887 men and when the fighting was over had 1 officer and 106 men left. It is also estimated that the British Army had 1,547 men killed or wounded and that the German Army lost 1,500 soldiers killed or wounded in the Battle of Fromelles.

 

The attack at Fromelles was planned as a diversionary attack to the north of the battle raging on the Somme. Fromelles had already seen action in 1915 when British efforts to take Aubers Ridge had been repulsed with heavy losses.

 

The Fromelles attack in 1916 saw the baptism of the Australian Imperial Force to fighting on the Western Front as the units sent down to the Somme had yet to be committed to action.

 

As on the Somme the provisional artillery bombardment did not cut the German barbed wire as hoped would be the case and the German machine guns, with a clear view of the attackers, were able to wreak havoc.

 

The battlefield saw many acts of heroism as the Australians found themselves cut off and had to fight their way back to their own lines. Many wounded were left in no-man’s land and needed rescue.

 

V.C.Corner Cemetery contains the remains of over 400 Australians who died at Fromelles whose bodies were found on the battlefield but could not be identified and rather than marking individual graves a wall records the names of all those who died. The memorial there commemorates the 410 Australians buried in a communal grave and the total of 1,299 Australian casualties whose bodies could not be identified. There are no headstones but 410 red rose bushes grow above the unidentified remains. The plaque at V.C.Corner states:-

 

“IN HONOUR OF 410 UNKNOWN AUSTRALIAN SOLDIERS HERE BURIED WHO WERE AMONG THE FOLLOWING 1,299 OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE AUSTRALIAN IMPERIAL FORCES KILLED IN THE ATTACK AT FROMELLES JULY 19TH/20TH 1916.”

 

Just along the road from VC Corner is the striking “Cobbers” Memorial. A tall bronze figure of an Australian bringing in a wounded comrade is a tribute to the many who went into no-man’s land to bring in their wounded mates. It stands on the spot where the 14th Brigade was held overnight. It depicts a 40 year old ex-farmer from Victoria, Sergeant Simon Fraser of the 57th Battalion. Whilst out on the battlefield bringing back the wounded, Fraser heard a man shout “Don’t forget me, cobber.” Fraser brought the man back on his next venture into no-man’s land. The statue was carved by Peter Corlett of Melbourne and was inaugurated on 5th July 1998. It is a splendid piece.

 

Fraser was later promoted to Second Lieutenant in the 58th Battalion and was killed at the second Battle of Bullecourt in 1917. His body was never recovered and is one of those commemorated on the Villers-Bretonneaux Memorial

 

Here we see V.C.Corner.

Done