As all (true) Australians know, Anzac Day means a lot to us.
Sure, it represents, to some, an Australian battle at Gallipoli where we lost hundreds of young men in the first world war but it has come to mean more than that - as it's about mateship, courage and determination in the face of adversity - all characteristics that mean everything to Australians and highlight our view on life.
However, whilst Gallipoli has received the major amount of publicity - probably due to this being one of the first major conflicts Australia has served in - there were actually more Australian men fighting in Northern France and Belgium at the Western Front.
Consequently, more Australian men died in World War I in these battles and many battles were far more important in terms of the outcome of the war than the battles at Gallopoli.
We did visit Gallipoli last year and this was a really momentous occasion as some of my Great Uncles fought there and one of my mothers uncles won the Military Medal for courage and service as a field ambulanceman in the Light Horse Regiment.
However, it was especially poignant for us to visit The Somme and the battlefields of Northern France as one of my Great Uncles fought and died in the Battle of Mont St Quentin in 1918. (Sadly, only a few short months shy of the war ending but that's the way it was for many other fine and brave men from both sides)
This visit coincided with Anzac Day and we wanted to attend the Anzac Day Dawn Service in France at Villers-Bretonneaux.
This was the second official service at Villers-Bretonneaux, with the 2008 service being the first.
Of course, we were surprised to learn, perhaps through our ignorance, that Villers-Bretonneaux itself has been conducting services for some time as recognition for Australian troops liberating their town in 1918.
In fact, they have a wonderful museum in their small town, at the local primary school no less, that celebrates the immense contribution that Australian servicemen made towards France, the allied forces and the towns and cities of the Western Front during World War I.
The museum was superb actually and was partly the result of a gift of aid from Victoria in the 1920's, after the war. It highlighted so many of the Australian servicemens stories and how they fought in the war.
We have visited France previously and Northern France was always described as rather industrial and therefore we were not overly bothered in the past but I can safely say that these descriptions are complete crap.
The area of The Somme (the beautiful river of the Picardie region) is wonderful and absolutely superb in terms of beauty and style and with so much history, it is definitely a part of the world we will revisit.
The day before the service we had driven to Amiens to base ourselves and following this, we visited many of the Australian memorials. Most are near small towns and yes, there are 91 years since the fighting ended there in World War I but there is no indication at all with the beauty of the area to indicate such conflict.We visisted Villers-Bretonneaux - with the Australian War Memorial and the town, with the Franco-Australian museum - Le Hamel, where Australian troops were credited with shooting down the Red Baron. This memorial was in the middle of a crop field and still had trenches - but it was beautifully situated and so peaceful.
Following this, we searched and found my Great Uncle's grave at Hem-Monacu Farm Military Cemetery.
Francs Noble was a Lieutenant in the Australian Army 2nd Battalion and on the morning of 31 August 1918, he led a charge within the Battle of Mont St Quentin, near Peronne.
This battle has been described as one of the most important battles in World War I and despite the overwhelming number of German troops, the Australian troops fought and took the hill at Mont St Quentin.
Sadly, my Great Uncle died instantly - shot in the temple by a machine gun bullet.However, he died a brave man. A man to make his family and his country very proud.
His gravestone had a very touching and special message -
A big Australian
A good son
A grand man
We will meet him later on.
I was unaware of these words, however, they were very touching and my father was very proud of these words when I told him on our return to Britain.
Following this, we visited the memorial dedicated to the brave men who fought at Mont St Quentin.
Apparently there was a more aggressive memorial depicting a soldier destroying a German eagle. However, in World War II, the Germans retook the area and destroyed this statue.
Fortunately, now, the memorial is a simple statue of a digger - far better and more representative of Australia than the previous statue.
The next day was Anzac Day and along with several thousand other Australians, Samantha and I attended the Dawn Service at Villers-Bretonneaux Australian War Memorial.
This was again, very poignant and we are proud to have visited the area, first and foremost, proud secondly that we participated in the 2nd Dawn Service in France on the Western Front and finally, proud to have visited the site of my Great Uncles grave and where he fell, serving his country and flegling nation.
