Newsroom

Once again this summer, the Sir John Monash Centre has welcomed many distinguished guests and held several interesting events. As the summer...

The Sir John Monash Centre stands on the top of a hill, preceded by the Australian National Memorial and the Villers-Bretonneux Military...

In the aftermath of the First World War, as soldiers started to be demobilised, the YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association) decided to...

On 4 July, the 33rd leg of the Olympic Torch Relay visited the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery and the Australian National Memorial. Four...

At the beginning of June, the Sir John Monash Centre was delighted to welcome His Excellency General the Honourable David Hurley AC...

Ben Daetwyler has been appointed by the Australian Department of Veterans’ Affairs as the new Director of the Sir John Monash Centre....

On 24 April 2024, to coincide with Anzac Day, the city of Amiens inaugurated a Bailey bridge designed to share the memory...

The 36th edition of the Sadlier Stokes Prize was held this year. Each year, the prize, named in honour of Lieutenant Clifford...

During the First World War, almost 330,000 Australians enlisted to serve thousands of miles away from home. Whole communities and families were...

The Sir John Monash Centre recently closed to the public for its annual maintenance. This is an important time in the life...

2023 has been busy with visitors and events, from the Anzac Day Dawn Service to the European Heritage Days, and including the...

Life in the trenches was challenging in the First World War. Faced with the prospect of the next assault, soldiers had to...

The Sir John Monash Centre attracts many visitors each year, including school groups from the region and other areas of France or...

With the start of the new French school year, the Rugby World Cup and the European Heritage Days, the Sir John Monash...

Rugby is a unifying sport, bringing many players and supporters together from around the world. The Rugby World Cup, which is being...

With the Rugby World Cup France 2023 fast approaching, the Sir John Monash Centre recently opened a temporary exhibition to share the...

The SJMC café offers a comfortable and relaxing space to take a break during your visit of the Sir John Monash Centre....

In 2009, the remains of 250 Commonwealth soldiers were recovered from a mass grave near Pheasant Wood in Fromelles, buried after the...

The 1 July 2023 marked the 107th anniversary of the beginning of the Battle of the Somme. As every year, hundreds of...

The Cathedral of Notre-Dame d’Amiens (Our Lady of Amiens) is one of the most beautiful and majestic buildings of the region.

On 25 April 2023, an Anzac Day Dawn Service was held at the Australian National Memorial, marking the 108th anniversary of the...

The weekend of 13-14 May at the Centre was rich in events, thanks to our partners and visitors: here is a look...

Among the three projects chosen for the 2023 edition of the Sadlier Stokes prize, the Sir John Monash Centre would like to...

Among the three projects chosen for the 2023 edition of the Sadlier Stokes prize, the Sir John Monash Centre would like to...

Among the three projects chosen for the 2023 edition of the Sadlier Stokes prize, the Sir John Monash Centre would like to...

“Australians on the Western Front” retraces the journey of the men and women in the First World War through 20 thematic panels....

The Australian Parliamentary Delegation to the European Parliament and Institutions met with their Belgian and European counterparts during a trip to Europe....

Visitors planning to attend 2023 Anzac Day Dawn Service at the Australian National Memorial, France can now book their free attendance passes...

In September 2022, a discovery was made by the director of the Vignacourt 14-18 Interpretive Centre, Valérie Vasseur.

The conference given by Peter Smith, former member of the Royal Marines commando and independent local battlefield guide is now available on...

On 13 September, the Jean and Denise Letaille – Bullecourt 1917 Museum received the donation of the identification tag of Australian soldier,...

On Wednesday 19 October, visitors are invited to attend a workshop presented by Gilles Prilaux, about the Australian graffiti discovered in the...

For the European Heritage Days, the Sir John Monash Centre is offering a weekend of free activities for this important cultural event.

On the 1st of July we remembered those who served on the First Day of the Battle of the Somme.

On 28 July 2022, visitors are invited to attend a workshop with the Battle of Fromelles Museum at the Sir John Monash...

On Saturday 14 May 2022, the Sir John Monash Centre invited you to an exceptional evening for the European Long Night of...

On 25 April 2022, Her Excellency Mrs Gillian Bird, Australian Ambassador to France, presented the 33rd Sadlier Stokes Prize on Anzac Day....

The Sir John Monash Centre is part of the Accueil Vélo network. The initiative, introduced by Somme Tourisme in the region, guarantees...

The Sir John Monash Centre, built on the site of the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery and the Australian National Memorial, invites you to...

On Saturday 14 May 2022, we invite you to join us for a special evening at the Sir John Monash Centre, as...

This year, French and Australian families attended the Anzac Day Commemorative Service at the Australian National Memorial to acknowledge the legacy of the...

The Val de Somme Tourist Office is organising a special activity for Anzac Day, to commemorate the service of Australians during the...

On 25 April 2022, an Anzac Day Dawn Service will be conducted at the Australian National Memorial, near Villers-Bretonneux, France.

February is an important time for the wellbeing of the Sir John Monash Centre’s equipment. To ensure the best possible visitor experience,...

Australia Day is an opportunity for all Australians to remember our history, and to remember the men, women and events that have...

With travel restrictions in place in France since 2020, the Sir John Monash Centre has been adapting throughout 2021 to offer a...

The Sir John Monash Centre team invites all teachers to experience a unique, state-of-the-art interpretive centre that will immerse the students in...

An online panoramic tour to prepare for a future visit in 2022.

The Sir John Monash Centre Director, Rebecca Doyle, had the pleasure of featuring on the Thanks For Your Service podcast this month...

Caroline Bartlett, inaugural Director of the Sir John Monash Centre, has been invested as a Knight of the French National Order of...

Watch the latest online conference hosted at the Sir John Monash Centre and discover the stories of the Australian soldiers who died...

To commemorate the Armistice and the end of hostilities on the Western Front in 1918, the Sir John Monash Centre is organising...

From October 2021, the Sir John Monash Centre will offer all school groups the opportunity to enrich and enhance the traditional visit...

The Sadlier Stokes Prize is open to primary and secondary schools in France & French overseas territories and encourages young French people...

The Sir John Monash Centre by Cox Architecture with Williams, Abrahams and Lampros won two awards from the International Chapter of the...

On 2 July 2021, the multi-purpose room of the Sir John Monash Centre was renamed in honour of Dr. Patrick Simon AO,...

Access to the Sir John Monash Centre will only be possible with a valid QR code. Masks are required.

In February 2021, the Sir John Monash Centre and the Australian Embassy announced the launch of the 32nd Sadlier Stokes Prize for...

The Sir John Monash Centre is pleased to invite you on 2 August to an online conference dedicated to the journey of...

Sir John Monash Centre will reopen from 15 June 2021 with a great new feature, especially designed for young visitors: Digger Quest.

On the eve of Anzac Day, Her Excellency Ms Gillian Bird, visited the Sir John Monash Centre.

This month is special for the French-Australian community as it commemorates the engagement of Australian troops on the Western Front during the...

The Sir John Monash Centre is excited to introduce Digger Quest, our newest children’s app, which is available to all young visitors,...

In Villers-Bretonneux and the surrounding area, the month of April has special meaning. Each year, the communities of the district prepare to...

This month has been a busy month for our Operations Manager as all of the Sir John Monash Centre’s technical equipment was...

Welcoming you in the foyer, seeing you tour the museum galleries, talking with you about Australia’s history on the Western Front, listening...

The Australian Embassy and the Sir John Monash Centre launch the 2021 edition of the Sadlier Stokes Prize.

The idea of a national day called Australia Day dates back to the engagement of Australian troops in the First World War,...

The Sir John Monash Centre is ready to welcome you back. The Australian story on the Western Front awaits.

Caroline Bartlett’s departure marks the end of a chapter in the history of the Centre, but also the beginning of a new...

2020 was a difficult and emotional year for everyone. Every day, the staff of the Sir John Monash Centre make every effort...

The village of Vignacourt, to the North of Amiens, was the site of an astonishing and moving discovery in 2011 when photographic...

If there’s one iconic Australian sweet treat that rivals the popularity of the Anzac biscuit, it’s the lamington – pieces of sponge...

A number of Australian-born soldiers serving in the British Expeditionary Force were sent to France in August 1914 and died in the...

Christmas is a magical time of year in France, when markets known in French as Marchés de Noël add a sense of...

The CWGC Experience is a unique visitor attraction that will shine a light on the work of the remarkable organisation at the...

In the heart of the Somme Valley, surrounded by ponds and wetlands, a tiny village watches over Australia’s fallen soldiers.

A box of Anzac letters, diaries and photos has illuminated the experiences of ordinary Australians who served in the First World War.

This house in Melbourne stands testimony to the love and strength of one woman who kept her family home together after her...

‘The dark clouds returned and gathered about the boy. His eyes grew distant, and he began to tremble. He heard not only...

The Centenary of the Armistice in the First World War will be commemorated across Australia on Sunday 11 November with the customary...

Peronne, much like nearby Mont St. Quentin, which was captured at the end of August and beginning of September 1918, was a...

“All knew the Mount to be a famous fortress of the Western Front, and as the hour for the barrage, 5 o’clock,...

Scratch the surface of Yackandandah’s First World War Memorial and out flow the stories of nurses from the bush who went to...

The small town of Péronne, located 126 kilometres from Paris, is not unaccustomed to the devastations of war. Since the Vikings, the...

The lush, tropical landscape of south-eastern Queensland must have seemed a world away from her homeland for 28 year old Ernestine Julianne...

“The slaughter of the enemy in the tangled valleys was considerable, for our Infantry are always vigorous bayonet fighters. They received much...

One of Australia’s greatest landscape artists, Sir Arthur Streeton, was appointed an official war artist by the Commonwealth Government in 1918.

On the Western Front, medicine became an integral feature of military planning, with both sides developing refined systems for evacuating and treating...

Visitors to the Sir John Monash Centre will see images of Sir John Monash on one of the many interactive media screens...

“Everything was affected by the fearful impression that the fire-vomiting iron dragons had made on artillery and infantry. A true tank-panic…, and,...

On returning to the 11th Battalion’s aid post early in the morning, Albert Coates discovered that a shell had killed all the...

The Sir John Monash Centre, Australia’s new interpretive centre on the former Western Front battlefields of the First World War, has been...

“I died in hell – (They called it Passchendaele). My wound was slight, and I was hobbling back; and then a shell...

Corbie is an ancient town with a fascinating history, a friendly atmosphere and good rail connections to Paris and Amiens.

Harold Septimus Power was born in Dunedin, New Zealand, in 1877. After gold was discovered near the town in 1861 its population...

During the First World War, no women were granted commissions as Australian official war artists, but that didn’t stop some female artists...

“The slaughter and confusion being worse than ever, we decided to… do something. Getting over the parapet we found No-Man’s Land a...

Shrapnel tore into Rachael Pratt’s shoulder and lung when a bomb from a German aircraft hit a casualty clearing station in France...

During the First World War, the Australian Government requisitioned dozens of merchant ships from commercial companies to use them as troopships.

Australians were incredibly proud of their soldiers’ actions at Villers-Bretonneux but none more so than Major General William Glasgow, the grazier and grocer...

Greek-born Nicolas Rodakis started work as a ship’s fireman while still a teenager. His seafaring job took him to many countries, including...

Arras is one of the jewels of northern France, a cultured city of 120,000 people, with 2,000 years of history, a rich...

The Battle of Le Hamel on July 4, 1918, is famous for a series of firsts but it almost didn’t go ahead.

When enlisting, few soldiers, sailors and aircrew would ever expect to become a prisoner and spend the war at the whim of...

Private Martin O’Connor was accustomed to hard work – he was a second-generation miner from Queensland – but nothing could prepare him...

Château de Saint-Gratien, which was used by General John Monash as his headquarters in 1918, will open to the public next month...

One hour’s drive from Ypres in Flanders Fields is the beautiful city of Bruges. Officially classified as a UNESCO World Heritage City,...

War has always driven innovation and technological advances. Over thousands of years the weapons that people carried into battle have evolved, changing...

After the First World War, it was customary not to talk about the war. People tended to ‘broadbrush’ their experiences of the...

Collingwood-born Bill ‘Rusty’ Ruthven was at the forefront when Australian 2nd Division troops successfully attacked German strongpoints near the Somme village of...

The Sir John Monash Centre has combined a range of environmentally-friendly design solutions to help reduce its energy consumption and operating costs.

Thousands of Australians would know the art of Napier Waller, the bombardier who lost his right arm at Bullecourt in 1917 but...

‘They made many fruitless attempts to embrace us – I have never seen men so demoralised’ – Lieutenant Garrard, 40th Battalion, ‘schoolmaster...

Military tunnels are often associated with covert explosions under enemy lines but the Wellington Quarry at Arras housed up to 20,000 Allied...

The beginning of Maurice Buckley’s military service was quite the anticlimax. He enlisted in the 13th Light Horse Regiment a week before...

It’s never too late to start asking questions about a military ancestor. Veterans’ volunteer Maureen Sargent thought she had most of the...

Ypres is an ideal base for travellers exploring the Australian Remembrance Trail.

The Sir John Monash Centre has opened to the public and the feedback from visitors is overwhelmingly positive.

Training had two main purposes in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) during its time on the Western Front between 1916 and 1918.

Belgium is a home of cycling, and its flat terrain, beautiful scenery and picturesque villages are a paradise for cycling enthusiasts.

The First World War was fought on both sides of the River Somme and today one of the best ways to slowly...

A class of nine and ten-year-olds in Villers-Bretonneux in Northern France has won the 2018 Sadlier-Stokes Prize, for a documentary commemorating events...

When the Armistice was declared, most Australian service men and women couldn’t wait to get home. One exception was a gunner from...

For four long years, Flanders Fields in Belgium was a place of unprecedented carnage. When peace was finally restored on 11 November...

How did news get from the frontlines of Belgium and France to newspapers on Australian breakfast tables?

If you were an Australian soldier, far from home during wartime, what would you keep in your pocket? A photograph of your...

If a soldier entered enemy territory or was stuck in No Man’s Land, a well packed kit could mean the difference between...

In Australia and much of the former British Empire, the flower of remembrance is the poppy, but in France it is the...

Bullecourt is one of the lesser known battlefields of the Western Front, yet it was a significant campaign for the Australian Imperial...

If you are looking for a base while exploring First World War historical sites in France and Belgium, Lille is a fantastic...

Lieutenant Lawrence Dominic ‘Fats’ McCarthy was awarded the Victoria Cross for a mind-boggling attack on a German line west of Vermandovillers in...

Thousands of people from throughout the world gathered at the Australian National Memorial on Anzac Day to honour Australians who served on...

Dignitaries and descendants of First World War soldiers converged just outside the small French town of Villers-Bretonneux on 24 April for the...

The Australian National Memorial near Villers-Bretonneux is hosting its biggest Australian commemorative event this year, with a capacity crowd of more than...

“Perhaps the greatest individual feat of the war – the successful counter-attack by night across unknown and difficult ground, at a few...

Travelling along the Australian Remembrance Trail is an increasingly popular way of visiting the former Western Front and now a guide has...

This year’s Anzac Day commemorative activities in Villers-Bretonneux will again include presentation of the Sadlier-Stokes Prize which symbolises the historical bonds between...

For more than a century, Anzac Biscuits have been associated with the First World War and the national day remembering the Australian...

Sound effects have been used extensively throughout the Centre to create a compelling sense of reality within scenes.

Australians travelling to Belgium in the last year of the Anzac Centenary (2018) have an unprecedented opportunity to participate in an archaeological...

“The Germans were already shelling the village, and it was pitiful to see the old French men and women, who had evidently...

Over one hundred years ago Australia established the Repatriation Department to undertake the massive task of ‘restoring men to health’ after the...

In 1938, Lieutenant-Colonel Ross Jacob was invited to represent Australia’s returned servicemen and women at the unveiling of the Australian National Memorial...

Many people do not realise the magnitude of the Western Front battles until they see the rows and rows of headstones commemorating...

WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are warned that the following page may contain images of deceased persons which may cause sadness...

The Sir John Monash Centre will officially open on 24 April 2018, honouring more than 295,000 Australians who served on the Western...

Brigadier General Harold ‘Pompey’ Elliott wrote hundreds of candid letters to his wife Kate from 1914 to 1919 – and in all...

“The dead are lying thick out in front of the embankment and they’ll be thicker soon poor wretches. The Grim Reaper has...

Tucked away in a quiet corner of Queensland, Australia there is a region that could be mistaken for the Somme.

Chevrons have been used by the military for centuries, symbolising rank, length of service or good conduct. For Australians on the Western...

Flanders Fields will soon be home to a new art installation comprised of 600,000 sculptures – one for each of the lives...

At the 1916 Battle of Pozieres, Albert Jacka won the Military Cross for recapturing a section of trench, freeing a group of...

Telling the story of the Australian Flying Corps led the Sir John Monash Centre’s project team to New Zealand where film director...

Albert is a great base for exploring the Somme. Thiepval, Pozières, the Lochnagar crater, the Ulster Tower and the Newfoundland Park are...

Today’s sports coaches risk criticism if they equate sport with sacrifice in war, yet 100 years ago recruiting campaigns actively linked the...

A musical score written for the dedication of the Australian National Memorial 80 years ago will be performed at the opening of...

‘…the infantry attack on both British armies had gone through the outposts and into the main battle zone. The overextended Fifth Army...

War produced new circumstances and technology that was used in combat and then found other purposes in peacetime.

A French couple who turned their attic into a photo studio during the First World War have provided Australians with a rich...

Australia’s most decorated soldier Harry Murray joined the AIF in 1914 as a private and ended the war a lieutenant-colonel commanding a...

Visit just about any town along the Western Front battlefields of the First World War and there will usually be an ornate...

Almost every community in Australia has a war memorial—a testament to the service, sacrifice and loss from a century of service.

‘We desire to acknowledge our debt to the Australian Comforts Fund. Their soup kitchen was the goal to which even the weariest...

For all its horrors, the First World War captured the literary imagination, inspiring some of the 20th century’s greatest poetry and fiction.

France is renowned for its scenic villages and some of the most beautiful are in the north, near the Sir John Monash...

Humour provided a safety valve for Australian soldiers confined to the trenches during the First World War.

Work on the Sir John Monash Centre is progressing well, ready for the official opening in April 2018 and a busy year...

On the Western Front, soldiers had to stand in trenches for hours on end, ever vigilant for an attack, not allowed to...

Australia’s airmen played a crucial role on the Western Front, flying reconnaissance and observation missions, and destroying enemy aircraft.

A key challenge in designing the Sir John Monash Centre was a rethinking of traditional museum and interpretative approaches to deliver a...

Official histories of women in the First World War tend to focus on overseas nursing and charitable activities on the home front,...

This year, as Australia commemorates the centenary of the last significant battles on the Western Front and the Armistice of 1918, Australians...

A visit to France is not complete without a stay in a château. These palaces, grand mansions and former fortresses were built...

Australia Day (26 January) is the official National Day of Australia, observed with public and family events, official community awards and citizenship...

As fabricators put the finishing touches on the Sir John Monash Centre, a glass artwork is making its way to France for...

On the Western Front, French cafés provided respite from the gruelling existence of trench warfare.

One of the most fascinating places on the Western Front is Naours, where underground tunnels contain the largest known collection of First...

Over half the eligible male population of Australia enlisted during the First World War and of these some 295,000 served on the...

Australian soldiers were discouraged from keeping personal records during the First World War, yet many disregarded official advice and their works now...

There are many reasons to visit France, one of the most popular being food!

The First World War began more than 100 years ago, yet the language of the trenches is still used every day.

WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are warned that the following page may contain images of deceased persons which may cause sadness...

A high-tech digital experience is being developed for the Sir John Monash Centre, providing visitors with an emotive journey from the moment...

It has been said that the last witness in war is the ground itself. Today, in France, a unique and wealthy heritage...

As we enter a new year it is timely to reflect on life in Australia 100 years ago. What was occupying the...

Much of the history of the First World War focusses on the battles, but how did Australian soldiers spend the rest of...

The First World War affected every part of Australian society. Nearly 417,000 men enlisted, while large numbers of women were recruited into...

Christmas, considered by many to be a time of ‘peace and goodwill to all men’, prompted a truce on the Western Front,...

Australian soldiers serving on the Western Front were so far from home that some used their leave to venture to another homeland,...

One-hundred years ago, campaigning over Australia’s second conscription referendum was at its bitter and divisive peak. As casualty lists on the Western Front...

More than 180 personal artefacts and relics and 230kg of unexploded ordnance from the First World War were uncovered during construction of...

Many of Australia’s historical accounts of the Western Front originate from the writings of the country’s Official War Correspondent Charles Bean.

One of the most popular ways of experiencing the Australian Remembrance Trail is on a battlefield bicycle tour.

Autumn can be one of the best times to visit France. Schools go back for a new year, businesses resume operations, and...

More than a million Australians visit France every year. Their average stay is two weeks, starting with a spot of culture in Paris,...

Many Australians have an ancestor who fought and died on the Western Front. After all, 295,000 Australians served in this part of...

Australian weavers are creating a giant tapestry for the opening of the Sir John Monash Centre in France in April 2018.  

‘Gentlemen, we may not make history tomorrow, but we shall certainly change the geography.’

Poppies have been synonymous with remembrance for more than a century.

The custom of observing a minute’s silence on Remembrance Day is largely due to one Australian man, soldier and journalist Edward Honey.

Bookings are now open for the Sir John Monash Centre which is due to open at the Australian National Memorial, near Villers-Bretonneux...

WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are warned that the following page may contain images of deceased persons which may cause sadness...

October 2017 marked the centenary of the battles of Poelcappelle and Passchendaele when Allied soldiers continued their third offensive to secure the...

Imagine creating more than 400,000 individual files, nearly 1.5 million letters, and 170,000 telegrams and cables.

More than a thousand guests attended the centenary commemorations of the Battle of Polygon Wood in Belgium last month. View our photo...

An army marches on its stomach and this belief contributed to Sir John Monash’s reputation as ‘a commander of genius’.

The Australian Government has created a solemn and thought-provoking experience for those attending this year’s dawn service for the centenary of Polygon...

In April 2015, the concept for the new Sir John Monash Centre, sitting adjacent to the Australian National Memorial and the Villers-Bretonneux...

Communications entered a whole new era during the First World War, where new technology began complementing carrier pigeons, messenger dogs and other...

Australians arrived in France in March 1916, and were soon manning a sector of the Western Front.  

One small village in France will forever remember the sacrifice of the young Australians who saved them from German occupation and potential...

Mail was an incredible morale booster for troops on the Western Front, and a critical lifeline to the world they left behind.

Conditions in the trenches on the Western Front were both miserable and fraught with danger.

While there is so much to learn about the First World War, here are five interesting facts to get you started:

The Sir John Monash Centre sits near the village of Villers-Bretonneux, just over 140 kilometres north-east of Paris. An easy day trip,...

After two weeks of shelling, the third battle of Ypres began on 31 July, 1917.

In March 1916, hundreds of thousands of young Australians found themselves in north-western France—on the Western Front, where they would soon go...

The Sir John Monash Centre will open to visitors in April 2018, after 27 months of construction.

The UNESCO World Heritage listed city of Amiens is less than a two-hour drive from Paris and only half an hour from...

By the end of the First World War, Sir John Monash had earned a reputation as one of the most innovative commanders...