Our Corner of the Somme Australia at Villers-Bretonneux Australian Army History Series

By the time of the Armistice, Villers-Bretonneux - once a lively and flourishing French town - had been largely destroyed, and half its population had fled or died. From March to August 1918, Villers-Bretonneux formed part of an active front line, at which Australian troops were heavily involved. As a result, it holds a significant place in Australian history. Villers-Bretonneux has since become an open-air memorial to Australia's participation in the First World War. Successive Australian governments have valourised the Australian engagement, contributing to an evolving Anzac narrative that has become entrenched in Australia's national identity. Our Corner of the Somme provides an eye-opening analysis of the memorialisation of Australia's role on the Western Front and the Anzac mythology that so heavily contributes to Australians' understanding of themselves. In this rigorous and richly detailed study, Romain Fathi challenges accepted historiography by examining the assembly, projection and performance of Australia's national identity in northern France.

Introduction; 1. Villers-Bretonneux. An Australian victory?; 2. 'The turning point of the war': occupying the memory front; 3. A school or nothing; 4. The Australian National Memorial of Villers-Bretonneux: commemorating the nation within an imperial frame; 5. 'Have we forgotten this place?'; 6. 'The meaning of the ANZAC tradition … must be learned anew'; 7. 'A piece of Australia in France'; 8. 'It was great to see Australia acknowledged in such a great way'; Conclusion.

Romain Fathi, Ph.D., is Lecturer in History at Flinders University of South Australia and a Chercheur associé at the Centre d'Histoire de Sciences Po, Paris. He has taught and researched at Sciences Po in France, Yale in the United States, and the University of Queensland in Australia. His primary research interests focus on the First World War, war commemorations and Australian identity.