Villers-bretonneux

[Geegeela]

In support of Robert’s Most Interesting Place 2015. http://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/community/open-discussion/most-interesting-place-youve-visited-72854-11.html.
The Australian War Memorial at Villers-bretonneux is locatedon at a truly awe-inspiring site and of course teems with emotion.
The ANZAC Day memorial telecast from The Western Front is broadcast from this location.
On the Memorial Wall are the names of 11,000 casualties with no known grave.

 

[Geegeela]

some more.

 

[Katie]

We are hoping to have our third Dawn service there in 2018. More poignant since finding out last year that my great-grandfather served around VB after his time at Gallipoli.

 

[Katie]

The war memorial and cemetery looked a little different back in 2008. Even though the old trees had been removed, and the new ones replanted in 2011, it's still a shock to see such small trees there.

 

[vetrade]

Some handy info for anyone contemplating going to the ANZAC Day dawn service:
Suggest you go to the memorial site a day or two before to see it in daylight and take pics etc. On the night the area is cluttered with broadcast vans, light towers etc which detracts from it all - and the glare from the lights seems to get in your eyes a lot.
They restrict road access from 2pm the day before and the best views from the tower are inaccessible because they ban access for a few days before so the TV crews can set up their equipment. There is no parking close by so you need to park at one of the local towns and walk a few km to the memorial site.

It gets very crowded and all the seats near the front with a reasonable view of proceedings are reserved for politicians, service people etc. so expect to have to look over a sea of heads to see much - and don't think you are going to get very good photos of the service - most will be distance shots and the people, light glare and shadows make it very difficult to set your exposure factors to get quality shots. There is no doubt that you would see much more on the ABC TV broadcast, and not have to put up with the elements. Then again, I guess just being there is why we, and everybody else, made the effort.

We arrived at about 2am to try and get the best seats but it was a looooooooong night and your butt will get quite numb.
We went in 2015 and knew it is always cold at night in April so we kitted ourselves out with waterproofs / thermal gear / insulated boots / gortex gloves etc before we went. It rained nearly all night and when the sun just started to come up it felt like the temp fell another 20 degrees. Despite our gear we were shivering almost uncontrollably...........and so was everybody else I think because the mass exodus at the conclusion was a stampede. Everyone was way too wet and cold to hang around.

 

[phily]

Some handy info for anyone contemplating going to the ANZAC Day dawn service:
Suggest you go to the memorial site a day or two before to see it in daylight and take pics etc. On the night the area is cluttered with broadcast vans, light towers etc which detracts from it all - and the glare from the lights seems to get in your eyes a lot.

I've been to Gallipoli once in July 2013, and it was an extremely peaceful experience, what I would expect of wandering through a series of small cemeteries that are sacred to the history of Australia.

Whilst I readily accept that many people enjoy going to the Anzac Day services at Gallipoli, and I do support them, keep in mind that those people will have a very different experience of what Gallipoli is like for the other 9 months of the year. I say 9 months, because there would be around 3 months where grandstands etc are being erected and later being removed.

 

[vetrade]

I've been to Gallipoli once in July 2013, and it was an extremely peaceful experience, what I would expect of wandering through a series of small cemeteries that are sacred to the history of Australia.

Whilst I readily accept that many people enjoy going to the Anzac Day services at Gallipoli, and I do support them, keep in mind that those people will have a very different experience of what Gallipoli is like for the other 9 months of the year. I say 9 months, because there would be around 3 months where grandstands etc are being erected and later being removed.

Some crossed wires here - I've never been to Gallipoli - we went to Villers Bretonneux (north of Paris) in 2015 and my comments were directed at that (as per the title of the thread)

 

[Katie]

Fwiw, we were at Gallipoli in 2005, and have done Remembrance Day (2003) and two Anzac Days at Villers (2008 for the first big one with an official ceremony and in 2011).
Gallipoli on 24/25 April were more intense with the sheer volume of visitors, Aussies, Kiwis, and Turks. And others!
Villers we found in comparison quite easy; in 2011 we could still park on the road that the memorial is on. In 2008, Mr Katie also had a lovely real-life hot water bottle with an 18 month old on his lap! The weather was fine for all of our Dawn services, but in all three locations the temperature definitely dropped in the lead up to dawn.

We had relatively peaceful times travelling through the Somme and visiting many cemeteries after both Anzac days there. We had more days there in 2008 than 2011, and quickly discovered multiple memorial and cemetery visits with an 18 mth old is not fun.

It was different to visiting around Remembrance day, but many of the visitors seemed to disperse throughout the Somme, going up to Ypres, doing Paris before or after ...