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NEWS |
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Dateline
- April 15, 2008
Thousands
expected at 1st Western Front Dawn Service |
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The Minister for Veterans' Affairs, Alan Griffin, today confirmed
he would join an expected 4000 people from Australia, France and
other allied countries at the Anzac Day Dawn Service on 25 April
at Villers-Bretonneux, France. The Minister said that the service,
held at the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux,
will commemorate the 90th anniversary of Western Front battles
that led to final victory in 1918.
"Some 295,000 Australians served in the Australian Imperial
Force in France and Belgium between April 1916 and November 1918
in a campaign where more than 46,000 Australians lost their lives,"
he said. "A key battle on the Western Front was at Villers-Bretonneux
where, on the night of 24 and 25 April, soldiers of the 13th and
15th Australian Brigades liberated the village from the enemy.
This was a significant achievement that helped stop the German
spring offensive on the Western Front and contributed to allied
victory later in the year."
As part of the commemorations, Minister Griffin will also attend
several ceremonies organised each year by the local community
at Villers-Bretonneux and Bullecourt on 26 April.
During his visit to France Mr Griffin will:
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visit key battlefields and memorials at a number of locations
including Fromelles, Ypres, Tyne Cot, Pozieres, Bullecourt and
Passchendaele;
* attend a Last Post ceremony at Menin Gate;
* pay his respects at the Notre Dame de Lorete (the French National
Memorial on the Somme); and
* attend bilateral meetings with the French Secretary of State
for Veterans' Affairs, Mr Jean-Marie Bockel. |
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