Anzac Trail follows diggers' footsteps

Anzac Trail follows diggers' footsteps

Australians will soon be able to trace the footsteps of World War I diggers who fought on the Western Front using a new tourist trail meandering through northern France and Belgium.

The Australian government will spend $10 million over the next four years developing the Anzac Trail, which will take visitors to seven sites where Australian diggers fought in key battles and suffered heavy losses.

While detailed plans for the trail are yet to be finalised, part of the money will be spent on improving museums dedicated to the diggers who fought at Villers-Bretonneux, Fromelles and Bullecourt in the Somme as well as linking various battlefield trails through other parts of France and Belgium.

A new interpretive centre to help visitors understand the Australian troops' part in the conflict will also be built at the small rural village of Pozieres. In mid-1916 Australian forces suffered a massive 23,000 casualties in six weeks on the Pozieres battlefields as they fought to push the Germans out.

The town, where tanks were used for the first time in battle, already features a handful of memorials to the diggers including the remains of a German concrete bunker the Australians captured and which was later nicknamed Gibraltar.


The trail replaces a $30 million plan by the Howard government to build an interpretative centre at the Australian National Memorial near the French town of Villers-Bretonneux, where the second annual Anzac Day dawn service honouring diggers who fought on the Western Front will be held on Saturday.

The idea was dumped after discussions between Australian, Belgian and French officials with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and Villers-Bretonneux locals.

Veterans' Affairs Minister Alan Griffin, who is in France for Anzac Day, said the new commemorative trail would help foster a deeper appreciation of what the diggers achieved and endured on the Western Front.

"The Anzac Trail will provide long overdue recognition of Australia's contribution all along the Front," Griffin said.

"It is particularly important to act now as we move towards the centenary of our involvement in the war, and the international focus that will take place in the years ahead."

Hundreds of Australians are expected to attend this year's Anzac Day dawn service at Villers-Bretonneux.

The numbers are expected to be much lower than the 5,000 who turned out last year for the first dawn service at the Australian National Memorial near Villers-Bretonneux due to the credit crunch affecting the number of people who can afford to fly over from Australia.

However, busloads of Australians who live in London are expected to make the journey across the English Channel for the event.

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