There are literally thousands of memorials commemorating countries, armies, units and individuals on the Western Front. They can be seen in villages, fields, parks, cemeteries, churches and houses from Belgium to Switzerland.

For Australians, there are a number of important memorials. The first of these are the Divisional Memorials. After the war, each of the five Australian divisions that served in France and Belgium erected a memorial in a place of great significance to their division. Each Divisional Memorial (except for the Second Division) comprises a stone plinth topped by an obelisk. A bronze plaque featuring the Australian Rising Sun emblem details the division’s battle honours. 

The First Division chose the French town of Pozieres, which they were instrumental in capturing in 1916, for their memorial. The Second Division has two memorials: an unofficial one at the Pozieres Windmill site and the official memorial at Mont St Quentin, both in France. Their memorial at Mont St Quentin originally featured a bronze sculpture of a Digger bayoneting a German eagle, but German troops who occupied the region in 1940 were affronted and removed it. It was replaced by a less controversial sculpture of a Digger in full kit looking in the direction of the Division’s advance in 1918. The Third Division selected the heights above the French village of Sailly-le-Sec, where they were very active in 1918. The Fourth Division considered placing their memorial at Pozieres, but eventually decided on the hills above Bellinglise in the department of the Aisne in France. This marked the Division’s final conflict of the war – they placed the memorial here to symbolise that they had participated in the entire campaign since 1916. It was a good choice, but the memorial is isolated and not often visited. The Fifth Division selected Polygon Wood in Belgium, a place they captured in a brilliant action in 1917.
 
 
 

	The five Australian Divisional Memorials (clockwise from upper left): First Division, Pozieres  Second Division, Mont St Quentin Third Division, Sailly-le-Sec Fourth Division, Bellinglise Fifth Division, Polygon Wood

Another important series of memorials for Australian visitors is the group of Australian Bronze Commemorative Plaques in Belgium and France. These plaques were crafted by a Ross Bastiaan, a Melbourne sculptor, and commemorate Australian military achievement at more than 140 First and Second World War sites around the world.

In Belgium you will find Bastiaan plaques at Ypres, Passchendaele, Messines, Poperinge and Geluwe.

In France there are plaques at Villers-Bretonneaux, Pozieres, Mont St Quentin, Peronne, Bullecourt, Fromelles, Hamel and Mouquet Farm.

For information on the exact location of each plaque, visit Ross Bastiaan’s website at www.plaques.satlink.com.au.

Other important Australian memorials can be found at Hill 60 near Ypres, the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Amiens, Bullecourt church and Victoria School at Villers-Bretonneaux.

There are many other memorials to Australians throughout Belgium and France. Guidebooks with an Australian focus, such as John Laffin’s Australian Battlefields of the Western Front will list them.