Hamel video's label |
In 1992 an Australian Army Officer
- Colonel Kevin O’Brien – who was responsible for the study of military
history at that time, proposed that a documentary video be made to show
the methods used by General Monash and his Australian
Corps in the successful attacks in 1918 in France.
The proposal was approved and an opportunity arose for Colonel O’Brien to visit the battlefield area east of Amiens. It was decided to approach Mr. John Laffin, who was known to be an authority on battlefield guiding, to determine if he would like to be involved as a guide for Colonel O’Brien and the film crew and also, if he was suitable to be an “on screen’ presenter for elements of the film. Mr Laffin was briefed that the documentary would concentrate on the Battle of Hamel and that he should approach the Mayor of the village to seek approval from local landowners to film on their land. In April 1993 filming commenced and during that process many discussions took place between Colonel O’Brien and Mr Laffin concerning the lack of any significant Australian Memorial on the Western Front in France or Belgium. Mr Laffin pointed to the Canadian Memorial in Vimy as an example of what could be achieved. He explained that he had proposed on many occasions that something be done but his approaches had failed. |
The difficult quest for support
The original unknown soldier grave in Adelaide Cemetery (courtesy of Bruce Morrison) |
On return to Australia Colonel O’Brien
took the matter up with Major General John Whitelaw. He proposed that Australia
acquire a portion of the old trench lines east of Hamel as the focus of
the park. The proposal was drafted. A copy was sent to Mr Laffin to seek
his views and he quickly supported the idea without change. General Whitelaw
then sent the proposal to the Australian Prime Minister.
The Australian Government was supportive of the idea, but was in the process of returning to Australia an “unknown soldier” of the First World War for re-internment at the Australian War Memorial on 11 November 1993 – the 75th anniversary of the Armistice. There was not enough time to complete the Memorial draft as part of the 75th Service activities. The proposal was put in the hands of the Director of Australian War Graves - Air Vice Marshal Alan Heggan - to progress in his Section of the Department of Veteran’s Affairs. Meanwhile the documentary: “Le Hamel – The Turning Point” was released and shown nationally on Australian TV on ANZAC Day 1993. Despite pushing by General Whitelaw and a number of supportive newspaper articles by John Laffin, the proposal for a Memorial lost impetus, not least because of the technical difficulty of obtaining a land grant from the French government, but not before a number of senior Australian dignitaries visited the site. Unfortunately, political relations between Australia and France reached their lowest ebb at this same time because of French nuclear testings in Pacific. |
A lucky opportunity
|
As often happens, it was a similar
outside event that got the proposal running again. A lone French sailor
Isabelle Autissier was in difficulty in the cold waters south of Australia
and a rescue was affected by the Australian Navy in December 1996. The
French Ambassador to Australia proposed to visit the ship’s crew to thank
them.
At that time Kevin O’Brien (now a Brigadier) was acting in a senior position in Defence Headquarters and gave a copy of the original proposal to the Chief of the Defence Force – General Baker - to read whilst en-route to the ceremony. He also asked that General Baker might mention the idea to the Minister of Defence – Mr Ian McLachlan and to the French Ambassador, suggesting that the project might be a good way of redeveloping long term friendships between France and Australia. On return, General Baker advised that the idea had been raised and was enthusiastically received. |
The launch of the project
Fromelles Australian Monument in 1999 |
Mr McLachlan visited France soon after
this event and made a special visit to Hamel. In July 1997, he appointed
Brigadier O’Brien to develop the project for the 80th Anniversary of the
Armistice and seconded him to the Office of Australian War Graves
Brigadier O’Brien’s arrival in War Graves coincided with the retirement of Alan Heggan. Heggan had progressed the financial aspects of the Memorial Park, identifying that funds in the order of $1.3M Australian would be required. He further suggested that the long neglected Battle of Fromelles – Australia’s first in France in July 1916 – be linked to the project. The idea being that this first disastrous battle be compared with the later successful ones. Brigadier O’Brien then developed this proposal further and wrote a paper that went to the Minister responsible for Veterans Affairs - Mr Bruce Scott - for final approval. In late 1997, the architects accompanied by Brigadier O’Brien visited the sites and made final plans. By early 1998 development was in full swing, with French workers and Australian planners working side by side. All was completed just in time for a series of events in July 1998 to inaugurate the Memorials. |
