Olympic Torch visits Australian National Memorial in France

Image
Olympic Torch runners, DVA staff and local officials attended the Australian National Memorial stop of the relay.

As part of its long journey around France, the Olympic Torch Relay has visited the Somme. Its first stop in the region was the Australian National Memorial and the Sir John Monash Centre near the village of Villers-Bretonneux.

More than 1,000 schoolchildren and other spectators lined the route from the village to the Sir John Monash Centre, as the Torch arrived at around 9am. The runner carrying the Torch then proceeded through the neighbouring Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, past the graves of some 2,100 Commonwealth soldiers from the First World War.

Overlooking the cemetery is the Australian National Memorial, the walls of which bear the names of nearly 11,000 Australian soldiers who died on the Western Front and who have no known grave. The runner carried the torch along the front of the Memorial before ascending to the very top of the its tower. 

Image
Local sportswoman Floraine Bormans carried the Olympic flame

Ben Daetwyler is the new Director of the Sir John Monash Centre and a descendant of one of the soldiers whose names are inscribed on the Memorial’s walls.

‘The fact that the Memorial and the Sir John Monash Centre were chosen as the first stop for the Olympic Torch says a great deal about how the sacrifice made by Australian troops over 100 years ago is still fresh in the region’s collective consciousness,’ Mr Daetwyler said. 

The first torch for the Paris 2024 Olympic Torch Relay was lit by the sun’s rays on 16 April during a ceremony in Olympia, Greece, where the ancient Olympics were once held. 

After criss-crossing France, the relay will end on 26 July when the games begin.

The Sir John Monash Centre is one of three interpretative centres DVA maintains overseas. This cutting-edge multimedia centre reveals the Australian Western Front experience through a series of interactive media installations and immersive experiences. 

The SJMC App, downloaded on each visitor’s personal mobile device, acts as a ‘virtual tour guide’ to the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, the Australian National Memorial and the Sir John Monash Centre.

The experience is designed so visitors gain a better understanding of the journey of ordinary Australians – told in their own voices through letters, diaries and life-size images – and connect with the places they fought and died. A visit to the Sir John Monash Centre is a moving experience that leaves a lasting impression.

If you would like to see more news from the Centre, please visit the website and register for regular Updates. 

Image
Local sportswoman Floraine Bormans carried the flame to the top of the Australian National Memorial.

Images:

Olympic Torch runners, DVA staff and local officials attended the Australian National Memorial stop of the relay.

Local sportswoman Floraine Bormans carried the flame to the top of the Memorial. 

 

4546