Some heart-warming personal correspondence between Jeff of FNQ and our Embassy In France for Anzac Day
Saturday, 25 April 2020
On Sunday almost 3 weeks ago, Jeff of FNQ wrote to the Australian Embassy in Paris.
Here's his note.
From: Jeff
Sent: Sunday, 5 April 2020 2:40 PM
To: Consular Paris <[email protected]>
Subject: Anzac Day - Villers Bretonneux
With the Anzac Day ceremony at Villers Bretonneux cancelled due to the current world wide virus crisis the people of Villers Bretonneux will not have the usual influx of visitors to their town and the Musee Franco Australien.
I have been trying to locate an e-mail address for the Mayor of Villers Bretonneux so people in Australia who have previously visited the town or would have this year could send messages of support to the Mayor and his town’s people.
As the school children proudly declare Do Not Forget Australia and the Mayor and the citizens of Villers Bretonneux did not forget Australia during the recent bush fires by organising fund raising which they donated to the town of Cobargo it would be reticent of us not to forget the people of Villers Bretonneux this Anzac Day.
I would appreciate if you could, if possible, obtain a contact e-mail address or similar, which I could publicise in Australia for people to pass on messages of support to the people of Villers Bretonneux.
Thanks in anticipation,
ENDS
A lovely note.
And I'm sure that a bit like you and me, Jeff might have harboured some doubts that anyone would read it, let alone give him a sensible reply.
How wrong were we!
From: Caroline Bartlett
Sent: Tuesday, 7 April 2020 1:01 AM
To: Jeff
Cc: Sir John Monash Centre
Subject: RE: Anzac Day - Villers Bretonneux [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]
Dear Jeff,
Thank you for your email below, which has made its way to me.
It is very kind of you to think of the town of Villers-Bretonneux and the Franco-Australian museum during this health crisis. The crisis has had a deep impact on life in France (and elsewhere in the world of course), and your thoughts and messages will be greatly appreciated by the people of Villers-Bretonneux. The town has been particularly impacted as Dr Patrick Simon AO, the mayor of Villers-Bretonneux, has been hospitalised with severe symptoms of the virus. Though signs of a recovery are promising, the town is of course quite saddened by this additional turn of events. Your words of support will mean all the more to the people of the town and we know Patrick will be very touched when he recovers.
The town of Villers-Bretonneux can be contacted via the following email address :
Further information and contact details can also be found on their website : http://www.villers-bretonneux.com/villers-bretonneux-contacter-la-mairie.php
It is heart-warming for us to witness the reciprocal initiatives of both countries through hard times such as the devastating bushfires and this health crisis. Please feel free to reach out to us again if you have any further queries.
All the very best.
CAROLINE BARTLETT
Counsellor, Department of Veterans’ Affairs, Australian Embassy, Paris
Conseillère, Ministère des Anciens Combattants, Ambassade d’Australie, Paris
Director, Sir John Monash Centre
Directrice, Centre Sir John Monash
———————————————————–
Route de Villers-Bretonneux
BP 40096, 80800 Fouilloy, France
T: +33 (0) 3 60 62 01 44
M: +33 (0) 6 38 11 98 08
—
www.sjmc.gov.au
ENDS
Just a few days ago Jeff wrote again asking of Mayor Patrick Simon AO.
The news hasn't been good.
From: Caroline Bartlett
Sent: Wednesday, 22 April 2020 7:58 PM
To: Jeff
Subject: RE: Mayor Dr Patrick Simon
Dear Jeff,
Unfortunately, there is no further news. Patrick has now been in an induced coma for 4 weeks.
We saw some promising signs last week, but again just yesterday, there were a couple of worrying developments. He's hanging on in there but the fight is a hard one. We keep getting daily updates – but they don’t change much from day to day. I can’t decide if that in itself is promising or worrying.
We still have a few weeks of lockdown ahead of us and the government is in the midst of working out what ‘deconfinement’ means and what it might look like. The concern is of course that France would be hit by a second wave.
For the battlefields and the various Museums and Visitor Centres along the Australian Remembrance Trail, including the Sir John Monash Centre, we have to remain closed until further notice. On the other hand, it is heart-warming to see the local population here making sure Anzac Day is still commemorated, with many calling for various forms of personal, at home commemoration (largely inspired by the various Australian community initiatives; driveway/balcony at dawn, last post, candle in windows, Australian decorations…) We have just published a post on our Embassy social media platforms thanking all our French partners and friends for their commitment to remembrance.
There is always a silver lining that comes out of these tragedies.
All the best.
CAROLINE BARTLETT
Counsellor, Department of Veterans’ Affairs, Australian Embassy, Paris
Conseillère, Ministère des Anciens Combattants, Ambassade d’Australie, Paris
Director, Sir John Monash Centre
Directrice, Centre Sir John Monash
———————————————————–
Route de Villers-Bretonneux
BP 40096, 80800 Fouilloy, France
T: +33 (0) 3 60 62 01 44
M: +33 (0) 6 38 11 98 08
—
www.sjmc.gov.au
Facebook : Instagram : Twitter
ENDS
I am deeply touched that Jeff went to the magnificent effort of making this contact and much moreso that he wanted to share it with us here on this website.
My family will never forget France.
Lest We Forget.
Here's to Tony Abbott's finest legacy.
Sir John Monash Centre - "Tony Abbott's finest vision for Australia" - to be opened next week. Lest We Forget
Wednesday, 18 April 2018
Paul Kelly was a member of the panel advising Prime Minister Abbott on how best to commemorate the centenary of Australia's engagements on The Western Front during WW1.
He's written a great piece on the opening of The Sir John Monash Centre next week - "one of Tony Abbott's finest visions for Australia".
Honouring Western Front Heroes
Next week, on the eve of Anzac Day, one of Tony Abbott’s finest visions for Australia will be realised. The Sir John Monash Centre — Abbott’s plan to create an enduring visitor and information centre and museum on the Western Front — will be opened by Malcolm Turnbull.
The centre exists only because of Abbott’s drive as prime minister, his defiance of conventional wisdom about war commemoration and his conviction the World War I centenary should revive the historical memory of the Western Front as the greatest focus of human sacrifice and military achievement in our history.
It is Abbott who chose to name the centre after Australia’s most successful soldier, Monash. He decided on the location on high ground sharing the site with the Australian National Memorial outside the French village of Villers-Bretonneux. The town straddles the city of Amiens, a critical transport hub during the war and famous for its cathedral, the largest gothic structure in France.
Turnbull has invited Abbott to attend next week, an appropriate gesture. The centre will be opened on the evening of April 24 by Turnbull, with French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe in attendance, given the absence of President Emmanuel Macron who is in Washington ahead of his visit to Australia starting on May 1. The dawn service the next morning will honour the battle of Villers-Bretonneux that occurred, by an extraordinary coincidence, during the third Anzac Day in 1918.
Interviewed by The Australian, Abbott said Turnbull’s invitation to him was “gracious” — and Turnbull, in turn, recognises the historical import of the event.
“Often, government these days is a response to daily events and not much tends to make a lasting difference,” Abbott said. “But this project is something that will endure as long as our country lasts. I am pleased and proud this is now happening. It is a lasting legacy from my time in government.”
The special bond between Villers-Bretonneux and Australia originates in the formidable German offensive of March 1918 designed to win the war before US forces arrived in numbers. The Germans broke through, threatened Amiens, and took Villers-Bretonneux on April 24, only to succumb to an Australian-dominated counter-attack the next day, an operation hailed as one of the Australian Imperial Force’s finest efforts of the war.
It was a rare fusion of fast planning and brilliant execution. One of the Australian commanders, Brigadier-General Harold “Pompey” Elliott, said: “The fight became a soldiers’ fight purely and simply. The success was due to the energy and determination of the junior commanders and the courage of the troops.”
Military historian Peter Pedersen said: “Saving Villers-Bretonneux meant saving Amiens, which thrust the town on to centre stage and forever associated the Australians with it.” Monash said: “There is no spot on the tortured soil of France which is more associated with Australian history and the triumph of Australian soldiers than Villers-Bretonneux.”
While there are other battle sites such as Pozieres — where the nation lost 23,000 men in seven weeks — with a far greater sacrifice, Villers-Bretonneux, where the death toll numbered 1464, has kept its hold on the collective mind. This is because of the valour of the troops, their recognition by other Allied leaders and because Villers-Bretonneux opened the path to the greatest series of victories in our military history.
Upwards of 8000 people are expected to attend the dawn service this year. Abbott as prime minister visited the site in June 2014 before construction began and imposed a completion timetable of Anzac Day 2018, a deadline that remarkably has been met.
It was Abbott and his chief of staff, Peta Credlin, who forced through budget approval, cut through bureaucracy and imposed their vision on the decision-making system. Otherwise, the project had zero prospects. “All credit to the French,” Abbott said. “Getting this from conception to completion in just 3½ years is amazing.”
There's plenty more at The Australian.
Thank you Paul.
Lest We Forget
https://sjmc.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Background-The-Sir-John-Monash-Centre-1.pdf