NEWS ITEM No. 1

21 September, 2010 – The British Memorial Association, Fromelles
 
During the four years of the Great War, British division after division fought in that area of the Western Front which we now know as Fromelles and which forms part of what is now referred to as “The Forgotten Front”.
 
Prior to the discovery of the mass graves at Pheasant Wood, Fromelles was known primarily for being the place where the Australian Imperial Force had experienced its first, and disastrous, taste of action on the Western Front.
 
Whilst Fromelles hosts both the CWGC memorial to the AIF at VC Corner and the Australian Memorial Park, with the exception of a small private memorial to an officer of the Rifle Brigade, no memorial to the British casualties exists in this area. British losses were numbered in their many thousands in and along this line, but the majority of the men killed in action in this area between 1914 and 1918 are commemorated on the Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing in Belgium.
 
A group of historians, researchers and relatives of British Fromelles casualties have decided to form an association. The British Memorial Association, Fromelles will be established as a charity, but offering annual membership to those interested in being a part of the association. Although very much in the early stages of drafting and therefore subject to alteration, it is intended that the new association will:

• create a Fromelles-based research archive (the basis of which already exists) in order to offer a research service;
• work, both independently and in conjunction with other organisations, to educate with regard to the battles fought in and around Fromelles during the Great War;
• ensure that sufficient funding is made available for any Fromelles-based commemorative service and related exhibition which it may arrange; and
• subject to approval being given by the local Commune de Fromelles, fund and inaugurate, somewhere within the vicinity of the old battlefield at Rouges-Bancs, Fromelles, a memorial to the men of the British Army, and others, who fought there, during the period of the Great War.

On the afternoon of Saturday 9th October, military historian and author, Peter Barton, will be giving a talk at the Dorset and South Wilts branch of the WFA in Pimperne on his research into The Records of the Red Cross. Immediately following his talk, I shall be giving a short presentation on Fromelles and what it means to the British. This will be followed by the launch of the new association, the success of which we hope to toast in style. An exhibition relating to the British at Fromelles 1914-1918 will be displayed in a separate room and will include some of Peter’s findings from the Red Cross Archives in Geneva and other material from the German Archives.
 
Details of times, venue etc. can be found at the WFA Dorset & South Wiltshire Branch website http://www.wfa-dorsetswilts.org.uk/events/events-2010.htm.
 
This event is open to all, but as this is a scheduled branch talk, it is asked that a donation of £4 per person is made upon admission to the hall.